| About the hardcover
versions of the History of the 494th Bombardment Group(H) -Randy Faerber- |
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| The first book was written and published by Capt. Briton
Martin (494th HQ), in 1947. The book is titled "494th Group
History", (LCCN-ISBN-ISSN: 47020074), and is a general unit
history with lots of pictures but few
captions. The book was sold by subscription to the members
& families of the 494th BG, with
somewhere between 300 and 500 actually printed. It was only
published in hardbound, black cloth with gold lettering, approximately
one-half inch thick. You can view the actual text from this version
on this site, by selecting "History of the 494th", then
"Written History" from the main site page. The second book was published by the 494th BG Association in 1996/97, and is titled "494th Bombardment Group (H) WW II History", (LCCN-ISBN-ISSN: 96232647), and was edited by Capt. David H. Rogers (866th BS, Crew 38). It contains many stories as told by unit's members, lots of pictures and nose art with captions. Capt. Rogers also included some official history extracted from the status reports filed with HQ. This book was also sold by subscription. My understanding is that for the Association members, the book was published in spiral softbound. There were approximately 100 books published in hardbound, blue cover with gold lettering, slightly more than one inch thick. These hardbound books were given to Universities that offered a PhD in History. It is this version that seems to pop-up every so often with used book dealers as somewhat-less-than-astute librarians weed out things. For those that may not have access to the internet, the easiest way to check out these books is to go to your local library and ask for them. If they don't have them, ask for an interlibrary loan. Most, if not all libraries offer this service. Copies are also available in the Library of Congress (http://catalog.loc.gov/), but most likely available for viewing only within the Library itself. Obviously, both of these books are long out of print and availability is sporadic. I found my books using the internet used book web sites. I paid $125 for the 1947 edition and $60 for the 1996/97 edition. With the increased demand for these books over the last several years, they are very difficult to locate. You may need to contact one of the dealers and ask them to put you on their search list. Here are the used book sites that I use: http://www.abebooks.com/ http://www.addall.com/Used/ http://www.alibris.com/home.cfm http://www.bookfinder.com/ http://www.powells.com/ The following site allows you to submit a "search request" and you will be contacted when they locate your book. http://www.booksearch.com/ As a last resort, you might want to check out these sites. But normally, these sites just search the above sites for the book you requested. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/subst/home/home.html/002-3941967-2140859 http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ If you're interested in other books that contain some information on the 494th BG, check out: Seventh Air Force story ... in World War II by Kenn C. Rust. (LCCN-ISBN-ISSN: 79083635) One Damned Island After Another: The Saga of the Seventh Air Force in World War II by Clive Howard, 1981. (LCCN-ISBN-ISSN: 79016254) Both are out of print, therefore, refer to the above. I obtained both of these books with interlibrary loans. Good luck with the book hunt and happy reading.
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