Details of over 300 titles

Introduction

Welcome to the latest monthly update (February 2010) of 'Books on Bowls' - a unique resource of books, videos and DVDs on bowls of all the major codes. My aim is to make the site as comprehensive as possible to ensure that we have an authoritative record of bowls media for our great game where none existed before.

What's new to the site

New this month is a book that I'll definitely not be adding to my library. I've added its details to the site for the sake of completeness, but I won't afford it the privilege of having its name on this page. Click here to see why.

Look out this June for The Bowls Club Revisited - a new book of bowls humour by Paul Hammond that's an updated version of his first title - The Bowling Club - which is now out of print.

Eagle-eyed return visitors may notice the subtle but significant change to the site's header: the total number of books listed on the site has now passed the 300 barrier. Books that I don't know about are becoming increasingly difficult to find and whether 400 is a realistic target remains to be seen.

2000-2009 - a brief review

Within the limitations of the scope of this site (see below) it's still interesting to compare the number of new books published in the decade just ended with previous ones. The histogram under Books by Decade reveals that 38 books were published between 2000 and 2009 - identical to the number in the previous ten years and 16 short of the record level (54) registered in the 1980s. Neville Odell has the distinction of introducing the only new book (year books and diaries apart) in 2009, and Roll up for a Laugh followed his two other humorous compilations produced in the same decade. In the same period three humorous titles were also generated by author Paul Hammond whose last book, Going Indoors, was written in 2007. The English Bowls Coaching Scheme went one better and published four books, three in 2006 and the last, Guide to Improving, in 2007.

The decade saw an innovation by at least three publishers whereby old books, presumably no longer subject to copyright restrictions, were reprinted from the original plates. At least two books were reproduced in this way: James Manson's Bowling - Being the Practice of the Ancient & Royal Game of Bowls (first published in 1923) and Bowls - How to Improve Your Game by Henry Paul Webber. I suspect that this book, authored by Henry Paul Webber and Dr John William Fisher in 1934, may be the one reproduced. Details of these reproductions may be found at Amazon. I guess that this is one way for those interested in bowls history to purchase 'old' books at a competitive price to the original, but I would have thought that such collectors, small in number, would prefer the original version; I know I would.

Not for sale

I'm sorry, but I don't sell any of the books, videos or DVDs listed on the site directly. However, if you're interested in starting or adding to a collection, Buying Books, Videos and DVDs should help.

Scope

Only books concerned exclusively or largely with the major bowls codes, and generally available to the public, are included. Books of local interest, such as those dealing with counties, states or single clubs are excluded, as are journals and catalogues.

Icons

For simplicity, the following icons are used throughout the site:  Bowling green;  Crown green;
 Ebook;  Short mat.

Number of books, videos and DVDs

The number of books listed on this site is now 301 - the vast majority relating to the flat green code; crown green and short mat bowls titles account for 13 and three respectively. Details of 18 videos and ten DVDs are also recorded (February 2010).

Help!

My own collection of bowls books represents about two-thirds of the total number listed on this site. Details of the remainder have been obtained from a variety of sources and are usually incomplete, and this is where your help would be greatly appreciated. If you can provide any information where you see a question mark or the words 'Not known', or have a book that's not listed, then please go to the Feedback Form and fill in the relevant boxes. And please if you come across any errors, inconsistencies or broken links. As a small token of my appreciation, your contributions will be recognised on the Acknowledgements page and a link added if your club or organisation has a Website. I'm most grateful to those whose names already appear there. By the same token, I'm happy to try to answer any of your questions relating to books, videos or DVDs on bowls.

Finally

Creating this site has been a labour of love. If you've found it - good! If you find it interesting - great! If you find it useful - even better! Enjoy!