'Donald Campbell- The Final Record Attempt' by Neil Sheppard

[Renegadenemo]

My book's pretty good. (that is a plug!)

You written a book, Neil? You kept that quiet...

[Dominic Owen]

I haven't written a book so this is the only plug I could manage

13-amp-3-pin-plug-94-p.jpg

[sheppane]

I haven't written a book so this is the only plug I could manage

13-amp-3-pin-plug-94-p.jpg

Now that's a plug...

[Renegadenemo]

That's where Fred went wrong, you see. He's OK plugging his book on here, we have no problem with that, but he'll not get away without having his leg pulled.

[klingon]

Whens it out on Kindle?

[Renegadenemo]

I see a certain Mr Stevens has been rubbishing Neil's book on Amazon.
It's one thing to have a natter in here but to slag it in public, in the big Amazon shop window, where people might be seeking to buy a book as a gift or as somewhere to broaden their knowledge is well out of order. OK, there's a few innacuracies - show me a book without any - but overall it's about the best there is and when set alongside the state of that CN7 book it's positively brilliant.
Why does the bloke have to be so bitter and negative?

[quicksilver-wsr]

I see a certain Mr Stevens has been rubbishing Neil's book on Amazon.
It's one thing to have a natter in here but to slag it in public, in the big Amazon shop window, where people might be seeking to buy a book as a gift or as somewhere to broaden their knowledge is well out of order.
Why does the bloke have to be so bitter and negative?

What difference does it make whether it's on Amazon or not?

With the widespread use of Google and other such search engines, any unfounded and deeply damaging comment in publicly-accessible places can be rapidly read by the entire world.

How many people have sought to "broaden their knowledge" of Quicksilver online and seen this ...

http://www.network54.com/Forum/157337/t ... rd+attempt

Yet, for the past four years, this is what everyone sees on the fourth page of Google, if they've keyed-in the words "Nigel Macknight Quicksilver" with the genuine intention of learning more.

I haven't seen Donald Stevens' book, or Neil Sheppard's, so can't comment on them either way. But people need to wake up to the fact that what has happened on Amazon is widespread elsewhere too, and is deeply damaging to other people in much more ways than just some lost book royalties.

Turning a blind eye in some cases, then venting forth with condemnation in others, is simply the same old story ... a double standard.

The derogatory comments made in the post I've linked to above are all untrue. But to the people who read them, they become fact - then are blithly regurgitated elsewhere as fact - simply due to the impact of the name at the side of the post. The unfair and unjustifiable damage done to me and my team, and to everyone who ever supported us, is clear ... but there is an endless silence from the very same people who shout "foul" when a fraction of that damage happens to be done to them, or someone they care about.

Nigel

[f1steveuk]

I think I have to agree with Nigel there. I take little notice of reviews, be they on Amazon or elsewhere (and I understand I may be in a minority there!), it's one person's opinion. As an example, Nigel himself reviewed Leap Into Legend, and stated that he felt the chapter on the R type was needless (I paraphrase), but I argue that I felt the R was crucial to British and Campbell family success. I wrote it, my opinion, so it went in. Nigel disagreed, and in public ( was it the "Engineer"??), and he is welcome to his opinion, if we all agreed, it would be a dull world. I shall go and read the Amazon review of TFRA, but it wont change my enjoyment of it.

[rob565uk]

Its to be hoped that most people will not simply accept as Gospel the first reference they unearth on the Internet when looking for information, but consult a variety of sources to gain a more balanced (maybe even true!) view...

[quicksilver-wsr]

I take little notice of reviews, be they on Amazon or elsewhere (and I understand I may be in a minority there!), it's one person's opinion. As an example, Nigel himself reviewed Leap Into Legend, and stated that he felt the chapter on the R type was needless (I paraphrase), but I argue that I felt the R was crucial to British and Campbell family success. I wrote it, my opinion, so it went in. Nigel disagreed, and in public ( was it the "Engineer"??), and he is welcome to his opinion, if we all agreed, it would be a dull world.

I have sent a PM to Steve, gently chiding him for taking my review of his Leap Into Legend book too much to heart

Published in 2002, I think it was. In The Engineer magazine? - yes, probably.

Honestly, Steve, I gave you a bloody good review there

The point is that I pointed out one feature of the book that could/should have been different, but I did it in a very polite and constructive way.

And that's how it should be. There should be some respect for people's work and hard effort. Unless, of course, it's a crock.

But Steve's book was/is very good. And I'll have to box his ears if I see him, because I was generally in high praise of it.

Nigel