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Old 02-16-2008, 06:28 PM
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How about a list of Pat Braden's books? They are so very very good, and I still Cherish the ones that I do have, they're both informative and chock full of great narratives. Indispensible, those about Alfa Romeo. Are all the Braden books still in print?
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Old 02-16-2008, 07:07 PM
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Alfa Books List / Braden Books

Quote:
Originally Posted by romroc View Post
How about a list of Pat Braden's books? They are so very very good, and I still Cherish the ones that I do have, they're both informative and chock full of great narratives. Indispensible, those about Alfa Romeo. Are all the Braden books still in print?
Here are his books and their print status with prices as of today:
  1. The Ferrari 365 GTB-4 Daytona/Newport Press -- o/p, hard to find, usually upwards of $350 when available
  2. Abarth/Osprey -- o/p, price varies, 1 copy shown on Amazon @ $95.00
  3. Weber Carburetors,"Moto Award Winner"/HP Books, now owned by Penguin Putnam -- in print and available through many sources, including local parts warehouses.
  4. The Toyota Performance Handbook/Motorbooks International -- o/p, price varies as to copies available, 10 currently on Amazon @ $23.99
  5. Alfa Romeo Giulia: History and Restoration/Motorbooks International -- o/p, price varies as to copies available, 1 currently on Amazon @ $124.93
  6. Alfa Romeo Owner's Bible/Bentley Publishers, in print, widely available, including through AROC
  7. All Alloy Twin Cam Companion 1954-1994/Bentley Publishers, in print, widely available, including through AROC

Pat is also listed as a co-author with Keith Martin on: Keith Martin and Collecting Alfa Romeo. A collection of SCM's best articles on Alfas over the years; many of Pat's articles on specific, individual Alfa Romeos may be found there.

HTH

I'm also considering publishing a compendium of Pat's Note Brevi's and his Alfa Romeo Production History slide show if there is enough interest, which would have to be expressed to the current publisher, Michael Bentley, or me.
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Last edited by Pat Braden; 02-17-2008 at 09:38 AM.
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Old 02-17-2008, 05:43 AM
romroc romroc is offline
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Thanks for the list. Would love to have the Ferrari book, bet it's a classic.

Why not let AROC handle the printing/distribution? Woah, maybe not.
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Old 02-17-2008, 09:33 AM
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Thanks for the list. Would love to have the Ferrari book, bet it's a classic.
Both the Ferrari and Abarth books are hardcovers. There are two Ferrari books available currently located through an Alibris Search: Tarpon, U.K. @ $205.19 (2/3 weeks delivery) and Green Mountain Books, Vermont @ $425.00 (2/3 days delivery).

T.E. Warth lists none in stock but quotes a price of $450 or more plus a $20 search fee to find a copy.

Quote:
Originally Posted by romroc
Why not let AROC handle the printing/distribution? Woah, maybe not.
Has to do with copyright and a contract with the current publisher with a "first right of refusal" clause as well as some other less significant, but important issues.
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Last edited by Pat Braden; 04-06-2008 at 08:11 AM.
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Old 02-20-2008, 11:27 AM
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Booklist on Alfa Romeo

Okay fellow members,

I am going to give it a try. This list is far from complete, it contains old en new, general en specific, technical and historical, production and competiton, thorough, pictures and text, etc..

Ciao, Olaf
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File Type: xls Lijst Alfabb forum.xls (28.5 KB, 43 views)
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Old 02-21-2008, 08:03 AM
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Originally Posted by Zagato_Olaf View Post
Okay fellow members,

I am going to give it a try. This list is far from complete, it contains old en new, general en specific, technical and historical, production and competiton, thorough, pictures and text, etc..

Ciao, Olaf
Thanks for the list, I was able to reformat the above document so that it displays on one landscape page showing all of the columns for my own use.
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Old 02-21-2008, 11:33 AM
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Second and last part of the booklist

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Originally Posted by Pat Braden View Post
Thanks for the list, I was able to reformat the above document so that it displays on one landscape page showing all of the columns for my own use.

Hello Cheryl and other members,

This is the second and last part of my list. Have fun with it!

Ciao, Olaf
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Old 04-06-2008, 09:10 AM
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Alfa Books List

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Originally Posted by Zagato_Olaf View Post
Hello Cheryl and other members,

This is the second and last part of my list. Have fun with it!

Ciao, Olaf
I was up this a.m. working on some research for another thread on Abarth/Alfa questions, still in progress, but as I was looking and sorting through things I came across this Note Brevi, written my Pat in November of 2000, which addresses the list of Alfa books that, in his opinion, were necessary for various Alfisti, based on chosen focus, and the reasons he stated that supported his belief. This was originally contained within the Note Brevi that reviewed Simon Moore's Legendary 2.3 book and set the stage or acted as an introduction for the enormous and profound amount of research that was required to produce such a work.

One last thought or disclaimer before I add the quoted material, this additional information is not to be interpreted or meant to diminish in any way the quality or enormity of the two-part list previously created or posted by Olaf, which I find very useful for evaluative and collection development purposes. This is simply a different approach to what Alfa books offer based on particular interest or focus.

On a more personal note, while the Alfa Owner of this age, lacks the color of todays, it is much easier to read with dark printing, three columns, and a well spaced and easily defined font with less glare on the pages as well as a variation in format combined with Alfa history, racing, a technical crankshaft article, and a member's Alfa experience in Europe, etc. by notable and recognized Alfa authorities, something that is lacking in today's Alfa Owner, in my opinion.
Once briefly, I owned all the important books published in the English language (and many in Italian) on Alfa. I gave up the idea of a 'complete' collection when I realized that most of the new books waiting for my purchase really added no new information to the books I already owned: I had 'hit the wall' of Alfa information.

In fact, there are only a few essential books for the Alfa enthusiast: The d'Amico/Tabucchi two-volume catalog gives the data, Joe Benson's Buyer's Guide gives the prices and (immodestly) the Owner's Bible adds 'how to' tips. Armed with a good shop manual and these three books, the average owner is well equipped for Alfa ownership. For the studious, Griff Borgeson's Alfa Romeo Tradition is a graduate seminar in the personalities and politics behind the badge. For most, four books; for the student five.

Which is an extremely small percentage of the possibilities. Alfa books range from the rare (Fusi) to the privately-distributed (several from the factory) to the pedestrian. Narrowly defined titles, such as Cherrett's Tipo A or Garceas's La Mia Alfa exist alongside general titles like the seminal Hull-Slater work. The model you own has its own bibliography, whether it's a 1900CSS Zagato (Marchiano) or a Giulietta (Anselmi, Wilson and several others).

So much for quantity. The quality of alfa books ranges from thrown-together to superb. I can honestly say that the most informative Alfa books I use regularly are out of print: Fusi and Hull-Slater come to mind immediately.

In the two Alfa books he has published, Simon Moore, has distinguished himself as the premiere Alfa Romeo scholar, and his books are the standards against which all other Alfa works must be judged. This is functionally unfair to the rest of us who write Alfa books, because Simon's view is loftier than any other writer extant. The competence of his research is humbling, and well worth a look just to see how it should be done....
Excerpted from: Braden, Pat. (November, 2002). Note Brevi: The Legendary 2.3, By Simon Moore. Alfa Owner, 43(11), 6.
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  #24 (permalink)  
Old 04-08-2008, 08:54 AM
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Smile 'Combined fieldkit for all Alfisti'

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pat Braden View Post
I was up this a.m. working on some research for another thread on Abarth/Alfa questions, still in progress, but as I was looking and sorting through things I came across this Note Brevi, written my Pat in November of 2000, which addresses the list of Alfa books that, in his opinion, were necessary for various Alfisti, based on chosen focus, and the reasons he stated that supported his belief. This was originally contained within the Note Brevi that reviewed Simon Moore's Legendary 2.3 book and set the stage or acted as an introduction for the enormous and profound amount of research that was required to produce such a work.

One last thought or disclaimer before I add the quoted material, this additional information is not to be interpreted or meant to diminish in any way the quality or enormity of the two-part list previously created or posted by Olaf, which I find very useful for evaluative and collection development purposes. This is simply a different approach to what Alfa books offer based on particular interest or focus.

On a more personal note, while the Alfa Owner of this age, lacks the color of todays, it is much easier to read with dark printing, three columns, and a well spaced and easily defined font with less glare on the pages as well as a variation in format combined with Alfa history, racing, a technical crankshaft article, and a member's Alfa experience in Europe, etc. by notable and recognized Alfa authorities, something that is lacking in today's Alfa Owner, in my opinion.
Once briefly, I owned all the important books published in the English language (and many in Italian) on Alfa. I gave up the idea of a 'complete' collection when I realized that most of the new books waiting for my purchase really added no new information to the books I already owned: I had 'hit the wall' of Alfa information.

In fact, there are only a few essential books for the Alfa enthusiast: The d'Amico/Tabucchi two-volume catalog gives the data, Joe Benson's Buyer's Guide gives the prices and (immodestly) the Owner's Bible adds 'how to' tips. Armed with a good shop manual and these three books, the average owner is well equipped for Alfa ownership. For the studious, Griff Borgeson's Alfa Romeo Tradition is a graduate seminar in the personalities and politics behind the badge. For most, four books; for the student five.

Which is an extremely small percentage of the possibilities. Alfa books range from the rare (Fusi) to the privately-distributed (several from the factory) to the pedestrian. Narrowly defined titles, such as Cherrett's Tipo A or Garceas's La Mia Alfa exist alongside general titles like the seminal Hull-Slater work. The model you own has its own bibliography, whether it's a 1900CSS Zagato (Marchiano) or a Giulietta (Anselmi, Wilson and several others).

So much for quantity. The quality of alfa books ranges from thrown-together to superb. I can honestly say that the most informative Alfa books I use regularly are out of print: Fusi and Hull-Slater come to mind immediately.

In the two Alfa books he has published, Simon Moore, has distinguished himself as the premiere Alfa Romeo scholar, and his books are the standards against which all other Alfa works must be judged. This is functionally unfair to the rest of us who write Alfa books, because Simon's view is loftier than any other writer extant. The competence of his research is humbling, and well worth a look just to see how it should be done....
Excerpted from: Braden, Pat. (November, 2002). Note Brevi: The Legendary 2.3, By Simon Moore. Alfa Owner, 43(11), 6.

Hello Cheryl,

No offence taken Cheryl! These titles, mentioned by Pat in his 'Note Brevi' would create a great 'combined fieldkit for all Alfisti' in my opinion. Good choice! Thanks for sharing Pat's thoughts on the books! I agree that a lot of books, published in recent times, do not add new information.

Exceptions would be the book 'Alfa Romeo Tipo 33' by Ed McDonough & Peter Collins (2005). This is a 'narrowly' defined book for the afficionados of the Tipo 33 sportscars and Stradale roadcars. Lots of details! Extra interesting because of the sale of 8 Tipo 33 sportscars by Evert Louwman (these cars were part of the Rosso Bianco collection).
Another book would be 'Alfetta' by Ed McDonough (2005) on the Tipo 158/159 Grand Prix Car. Great reading stuff for those who are interested in these specific cars as part of the Alfa Romeo history!
Then there is 'First among Champions' by David Venables (2000) which covers the full Alfa Romeo Grand Prix history from the Darracq times until the 1980's.
And today I bought the second edition of the book 'The Alfa Romeo DOHC Engine High-Performance manual' by Jim Kartalamakis (2008) which is great if you are into tuning and high-performance of the Alfa Nord engine (1300, 1600, 1750 and 2000) including twin spark and 1.8 turbo.

There might be other books I don't know about or other opinions on the books mentioned, so if anyone has suggestions I would like to hear them.
And if anyone would like to have some information (Worth buying? What information?) on one of the mentioned books in my list, please ask as they are all on the bookshelf (I started collecting books on Alfa Romeo in 1980) ready to be taken out.

Ciao! Olaf
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Last edited by Zagato_Olaf; 04-10-2008 at 05:29 AM. Reason: Additional info
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Old 04-13-2008, 09:03 AM
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Alfa Books List / Annotated Bibliography

And one more Alfa list of Pat's, this one is an annotated bibliographic list that can be found in Appendix 2 of the Alfa Romeo Owner's Bible entitled "Resources," which I discovered looking for something else; specifically, the Angie Dickinson Alfa bodied vignale photo for another thread.

I am not going to post the list here because of its length, some 8 pages, copyright restrictions, and because the "Bible" is still in print and currently available for sale through numerous vendors. However, I will summarize the categories that Pat has used as far as classification of the books and add that each book has a full description as to its purpose and inclusion in the list.

The categories:
  • Annotated Bibliography with Pat's introductory remarks about some established and recognized sources discussed
  • Core Books
  • General Histories
  • Era-or Model-Limited Works
  • Books Published by Alfa Romeo
  • Books About Alfa Body Builders
  • Books About Zagato
  • Books Containing Significant Alfa References
  • General-Interest Books
  • Shop and Parts Manuals

It should be noted that the lists were complete and accurate as far as availability and Pat's selection of the books at the time of publication.

Note to self: I should really stop looking for things, filling requests, and finding other things instead.
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Last edited by Pat Braden; 04-13-2008 at 09:07 AM.
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  #26 (permalink)  
Old 04-13-2008, 11:46 AM
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Thank you for the list

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pat Braden View Post
And one more Alfa list of Pat's, this one is an annotated bibliographic list that can be found in Appendix 2 of the Alfa Romeo Owner's Bible entitled "Resources," which I discovered looking for something else; specifically, the Angie Dickinson Alfa bodied vignale photo for another thread.

I am not going to post the list here because of its length, some 8 pages, copyright restrictions, and because the "Bible" is still in print and currently available for sale through numerous vendors. However, I will summarize the categories that Pat has used as far as classification of the books and add that each book has a full description as to its purpose and inclusion in the list.

The categories:
  • Annotated Bibliography with Pat's introductory remarks about some established and recognized sources discussed
  • Core Books
  • General Histories
  • Era-or Model-Limited Works
  • Books Published by Alfa Romeo
  • Books About Alfa Body Builders
  • Books About Zagato
  • Books Containing Significant Alfa References
  • General-Interest Books
  • Shop and Parts Manuals

It should be noted that the lists were complete and accurate as far as availability and Pat's selection of the books at the time of publication.

Note to self: I should really stop looking for things, filling requests, and finding other things instead.

Hello Cheryl,

Thank you for sharing the Annotated Bibliography with us.
I had a look in my 'Bible' called 'Le Vetture di Produzione' written by d'Amico & Tabucchi and published in 1996. I didn't find the appendix, so I presume you are refering to the second version of this book that has been published just recently. I will have to buy a second edition as well!
The Annotated Bibliography will help me categorize my books as well. If you or others are interested, I will post the booklist again after adding the categories.

Ciao, Olaf
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Old 04-13-2008, 12:18 PM
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Alfa Books List / Annotated Bibliography

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zagato_Olaf View Post
Hello Cheryl,

Thank you for sharing the Annotated Bibliography with us.
I had a look in my 'Bible' called 'Le Vetture di Produzione' written by d'Amico & Tabucchi and published in 1996. I didn't find the appendix, so I presume you are refering to the second version of this book that has been published just recently. I will have to buy a second edition as well!
The Annotated Bibliography will help me categorize my books as well. If you or others are interested, I will post the booklist again after adding the categories.

Ciao, Olaf
Hi Olaf,

Before you run out and buy a new edition of a book that you currently own, I think we should clarify the books. I don't think we're talking about the same book based on your post above. I didn't realize there was another book that is "generically" referred to as the "Bible" as a shorter title form than the full title: Alfa Romeo Owner's Bible by Pat Braden.

The annotated list of eight pages is far less comprehensive, as far as number of titles covered, than your list is in previous posts. The reason it spans eight pages is because of the annotations or short summaries of the selected titles discussed, purpose, intent, etc.

Here are the full details of the book that I cited and pulled the annotated list categories from:
Braden, Pat. (1994). Alfa Romeo Owner's Bible, A Hands-on Guide to Getting the Most from Your Alfa.Massachusetts: Bentley Publishers, (pp. 259-265).
The one I'm citing from is one of the later editions of the book, but AFAIK, the previous editions are identical except some minor text corrections and the edition of the picture of Pat and our son at the end of the author's preface.

If you decide to reorganize your list into specific categories, I would be interested; I can't speak for others. Sorry, for the confusion with my assumption of the "Bible" designation.
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Last edited by Pat Braden; 04-13-2008 at 10:56 PM.
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Old 04-14-2008, 04:01 AM
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Thank you Cheryl!

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