Osprey Publishing

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Osprey Publishing is an Oxford (UK)-based book publisher specializing in military history. Many of their books contain very accurate full-colour artwork and numerous photographs, and the company produces over a dozen ongoing series, each focusing on a specific aspect of the history of warfare. Osprey has published over 1,500 books.

Contents

[edit] History

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In the 1960s Brooke Bond Tea Company began including a series of military aircraft cards with packages of their tea. The cards proved popular, and the artist, Dick Ward, proposed the idea of publishing illustrated books about military aircraft. The idea was approved and a small subsidiary company called Osprey was formed. The company’s first book, North American P-51D Mustang in USAAF-USAF Service, was published in 1969. Soon after, Ward proposed trying the same idea with famous military units, and in 1971 the first Men-at-Arms title appeared.

Over the next 20 years, Osprey grew steadily, adding new titles and new series to their ever-growing catalogue. Although Osprey has produced books of all types, the main focus remains on military history. In 1998 the company became independent and moved from London to Oxford. Soon an additional office was set up in New York to handle sales in the United States. Osprey Publishing now includes over 30 employees and publishes an average of 10-12 books a month.

From 2002 to 2004 Osprey's trade sales in the United States, via distributor MBI Publishing,[1] grew by 40%. As a result in December 2004 Osprey decided to take over U.S. sales and marketing from MBI and launched its own subsidiary, Osprey Publishing Inc. The office, located in New York, was to include a permanent staff of four.[2]

[edit] Series

[edit] Men-at-Arms

Osprey’s flagship series, Men-at-Arms examines the history, uniforms and equipment of specific military groups. The series contains over 400 titles and covers almost every military organization in history.

[edit] Elite

Originally devised to give more thorough coverage to elite fighting units, this series has expanded to include books on other topics such as tactics, military commanders and siege warfare.

[edit] Warrior

This series focuses on the individual warrior of a specific period or culture, examining his experiences on the battlefield as well as his training, fighting methods and day to day living.

[edit] Battle Orders

This is a series of army-level guides, filled with force organization charts, weapons listings, and discussions of command, deployment and tactics.

[edit] Campaign

Another long-running series with nearly 200 titles, Campaign focuses on the great battles and campaigns of history. These books contain bird's-eye–view maps illustrating troop movements over battlefields and double-page battlescene artwork.

[edit] Vanguard

A now defunct series about equipment and weaponry.

[edit] New Vanguard

A series about the machines and equipment of war, from ancient siege weapons, through pirate ships, to modern main battle tanks. The series includes cutaway artwork, showing the internal workings of the machines.

[edit] Fortress

One of Osprey’s newer series, Fortress documents the structures that different cultures have built for the purpose of war and defence. Includes cutaway artwork and colour illustrations mixed in with the text.

[edit] Essential Histories

A more generalised series looking at large campaigns and wars.

[edit] Aircraft of the Aces

This series presents the history of the men and machines that have achieved Ace status (five aerial kills) since the rise of the aeroplane for military use in World War I.

[edit] Combat Aircraft

Similar to Aircraft of the Aces, but with a focus on specific types of aircraft instead of the pilots, covering topics from the birth of military aviation right up to the US “Stealth” fighters and bombers of today.

[edit] Aviation Elite Units

The newest series in Osprey’s Aviation list, these books present in-depth studies of specific aircraft combat units, often giving day by day accounts of their victories and defeats.

[edit] Osprey Modelling

Osprey’s series of “how-to” modelling guides. Each book focuses on a specific topic, such as a type of tank, and takes the reader through a series of projects, starting at the beginner level and advancing through to expert level modelling.

[edit] Osprey Graphic History

This series translates battles into comic book form.

[edit] Duel

Duel is a brand new, innovative series from Osprey Publishing that conveys a complete picture of machine-on-machine action from design and development through to combat, with a thorough analysis of all the human, tactical and technical elements which ultimately decided who triumphed in clashes of men and their war machines.

First-hand accounts and detailed analysis of individual engagements place the reader in the midst of the action, whether dogfight, tank battle or submarine hunt.

Each title follows the design and development of the opposing weapon systems in wartime, with accessible analysis of the technological and tactical innovations that led to victory or defeat.

An array of technical drawings, photographs and full-color digital illustrations, including "gun sight views," depict the key aspects of these machines in wartime.

For modelers, wargamers and military history enthusiasts of all ages. Visit www.ospreyduel.com for more information

[edit] Field of Glory

Field of Glory is a new historical miniature wargaming rules system for anyone interested in recreating the battles of the ancient and medieval worlds on their tabletop. www.fieldofglory.com

[edit] New series

Two top-secret new series projects are currently in the works

[edit] General Publishing

Osprey is best known for its series books, but for the last four years it has also been producing a number of stand-alone hardback and paperback books, such as Samurai: The World of the Warrior and Sniper: A History of the US Marksman and, the more recent Shadows in the Desert: Persia at War.

[edit] See Also

[edit] References

 This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2007)
  1. ^ Jim Milliot, "MBI Publishing Sets Ambitious Five-Year Program," Publishers Weekly, April 8, 2002.
  2. ^ Jim Milliot, "Osprey Opens U.S. Office," Publishers Weekly, Dec. 20, 2004.

[edit] External links

Osprey Publishing Official Website (http://www.ospreypublishing.com/)

Osprey also supports a number of websites on various topics in military history.

Other non-affiliated websites