I'm not a big one for one-upsmanship, but today I can't resist. Wonderduck boasts that he's made the acquisition of all acquisitions. But I've got something better.

Powell's Book Store has become famous now, but back in the late 1970's it was just a single store in downtown Portland, locally famous as having the best used book stack in the city. One time I was browsing the military history section, and saw a two-volume set that was pretty cool. They were priced $70, and I passed them by.

But on my drive home I was already cursing myself for not buying them, and that evening I decided I'd go back the next day and pick them up.

And if they had sold in the mean time, I knew I'd hate myself for the rest of my life. Fortunately, they hadn't, and I brought them home with me.

What were these books? "The West Point Atlas of American Wars" (through 1953) published in 1959. The first volume began with the revolutionary war and ended with the Spanish American War. The second volume was WWI, WWII, and Korea.

They're folio size, 10 inches tall and 14 inches wide. Every right-side page is a map, with the left side being commentary. Here's the map showing the plan for the Normandy invasion:

Here's a large version of that picture.

This map has always boggled me: it shows where all the American paratroopers landed. Green dots each represent one "stick" (one plane load) from the 101st and green crosses are sticks from the 82nd.

And here's a big version.

I can't tell you how many hours I've spent on these two volumes, but it's a lot. One of the best purchases I've ever made. I've surely gotten more than $70 worth of enjoyment out of them.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Weird World at 10:21 AM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
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