Chris has, in many ways, hit the nail on the head. I do not believe that any of us on this distro, and particularly those of us who have met or corresponded with Prof. Muller, would have any truck with impugning anything related to his professionalism, dedication, or attention to detail.
At the same time, the publisher who produces a full text version of The River War is to be admired. It is, as Lee points out, a niche market and we should have no sense of entitlement in regards to seeing it. But, as yet , St. Augustine have earned no admiration. They have talked the talk, but the walk is conspicuous by its absence. As Chris notes, I think what sticks most in the craw is the seemingly endless stream of hypothetical publication dates, spanning more than ten years. I’m not sure if, in the modern business world, this is technically known as ‘public relations’, ‘advertising’, or good old fashioned ‘mendacity’, but it is certainly insulting to the audience. When, and if, the publication finally happens I shall no doubt praise St. Augustine to the skies. Until then I must continue to regard them as all mouth and trousers :). Dave From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Chris Bell Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 7:35 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [ChurchillChat] River War Publication I would like to echo Lee's comments. I was lucky enough to hear Jim Muller speak about the new edition of the River War in Paris this month, and the work that has gone into this new edition is monumental. It takes time to do something like this properly, and we are all fortunate that Jim is taking the time to ensure that it is done right. There are, I notice, a few other "new" editions of the River War floating around these days, but these all appear to be simply the text of the abridged edition without editorial input of any kind, let alone any of the annotations, footnotes, or scholarly apparatus that Lee refers to. I suspect these are the result of lazy publishers looking to make a quick buck now that the book has entered the public domain in the USA (if I understand it correctly). I do not understand why the St Augustine's Press has insisted for so long in promising that the book is on the verge of publication when they must have known that that was not actually the case. They have cried wolf so often that I don't blame people for being frustrated and sceptical. But I certainly got the impression that we really are getting close to publication this time. We just need to be patient a little longer. It will be worth the wait. Chris On 2015-10-19 11:01 PM, Lee Pollock wrote: On behalf of The Churchill Centre, I would like to offer some comments on the various recent messages regarding Jim Muller’s edition of The River War. I cannot speak directly for Jim and/or the publisher and certainly this work has been in process for a long time. That said, I hope we all recognize and remember what an enormous effort is involved in producing this. The St. Augustine website aptly notes: Editor James W. Muller’s more than fifteen years of research adds thousands of new footnotes identifying people who figure in The River War, explaining Churchill’s references to other books and events, tracking down the original dispatches and illustrations, and establishing a text that encompasses all variations in previous editions. Jim has been working assiduously on this for some years, while teaching full-time as well as remaining involved in and highly supportive of many other things in the Churchill world, including the work of the Centre. We are most grateful for his continued support. Again, I can’t speak specifically for either Jim or St. Augustine but I would caution against the thought that the long time frame is the publisher’s fault or that they have somehow been deliberately dragging this out. The suggestion that there should be a change of publisher is easy to make but in a challenging publishing environment generally, this is a niche product and having someone else step up is easier said than done, even if that were desirable. I don’t know the nature of Jim’s arrangements with St. Augustine but I don’t think it’s correct suggest that they “commissioned” him to produce this or that they provided some significant advance for it. (Jim would probably say, “would that were so…”) I hope this clarifies the situation and I will ask Jim to provide any updates he can on the timing of publication. This will be a landmark in Churchill books and I hope all of the members of this Chat Group will buy a copy. It will surely be worth having and reading. Thanks. Lee Lee Pollock Executive Director The Churchill Centre (312) 263-5637 [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> From: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 3:25 PM To: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Subject: Re: [ChurchillChat] River War Publication So River War is still under copyright. Jonathan Hayes _____ From: Allen Packwood <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > To: <mailto:'[email protected]'> "'[email protected]'" <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 9:06 AM Subject: RE: [ChurchillChat] River War Publication British copyright law in published material is 70 years from the date of the death of the author. Allen From: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Sent: 19 October 2015 16:13 To: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Subject: Re: [ChurchillChat] River War Publication Not sure about British copyright laws but anything published in the US prior to 1923 is out of copyright and in the public domain. Hillsdale College has been reprinting a lot of the official biography companion volumes. Wonder if they'd be interested? Jonathan Hayes _____ From: 'Mark Lowrey' via ChurchillChat <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > To: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2015 5:16 PM Subject: Re: [ChurchillChat] River War Publication Even a Taiwan bootleg edition would suffice. -----Original Message----- From: Dave Turrell <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > To: churchillchat <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > Sent: Sun, Oct 18, 2015 7:01 pm Subject: RE: [ChurchillChat] River War Publication It’s been going on for at least 11 years to my personal knowledge. As the Texans might say, this would appear to be a publisher that is all hat and no cattle… or, as we Brits might prefer it, all mouth and trousers. Their lesser known publication of Savrola remains equally ethereal. My guess would be if Prof. Muller was paid to do the editing and annotation work then St. Augustine’s is pretty much bullet-proof in their choice as to when or if to publish it. I see no reason, however, that the vanilla text of The River War should not be republished as is – I cannot imagine that St. Augustine’s bought the copyright to that. If it can be done then it would be a great service to Churchill bibliography – the full text has not been published since the first edition of 1899/1900. Dave From: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2015 5:38 PM To: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Subject: [ChurchillChat] River War Publication St. Augustine's Press still has The River War under "Forthcoming Books", yet still no publication date. This has been going on for a donkey's years - has Prof. Muller considered dropping these people and going with some publisher who's actually willing to publish? It would seem that if he has a contract that St. Augustine's Press' lack of performance would be sufficient reason to abandon ship. Just a thought. Jonathan Hayes -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> . To post to this group, send email to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> . Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/churchillchat. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> . To post to this group, send email to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> . Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/churchillchat. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> . To post to this group, send email to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> . Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/churchillchat. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> . To post to this group, send email to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> . Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/churchillchat. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> . To post to this group, send email to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> . Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/churchillchat. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> . To post to this group, send email to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> . Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/churchillchat. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> . To post to this group, send email to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> . Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/churchillchat. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- Dr. Christopher M. Bell Professor, Department of History Dalhousie University 6135 University Avenue PO Box 15000 Halifax, Nova Scotia CANADA B3H 4P9 Ph (902) 494-3586 Fx (902) 494-3349 http://christophermbell.ca -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> . To post to this group, send email to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> . Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/churchillchat. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/churchillchat. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
