Malice Aforethought: The History Of Booby Traps From World War One To Vietnam (FINE COPY OF SCARCE HARDBACK FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR)

Jones, Ian

ISBN 10: 1853676136 / ISBN 13: 9781853676130

Published by Greenhill Books, London, 2004

About this Item

Fine/Fine. First edition, first printing in d/w. PRESENTATION COPY INSCRIBED AND SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR, on half-title page. Inscription reads, 'To ----/With my very best wishes/Thanks for your help/Ian 21 Oct 04'. Profusely illustrated with photographs and line-drawings. A well-researched and authoritative history of bobby traps, mines, delayed-action devices and mobile charges from the First World War to the Vietnam War. The book traces the design, deployment and effectiveness of these deadly devices. With Bibliography and Index. A fine copy, in a fine d/w, of a SCARCE first edition, first printing SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR.

Seller Inventory # 15401

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Malice Aforethought: The History Of Booby Traps From World War One To Vietnam (FINE COPY OF SCARCE HARDBACK FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR)
• Publisher: Greenhill Books, London
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1853676136
• ISBN 13: 9781853676130
• Binding: Hardback
• Edition: First edition, First Printing.
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine
• Signed: Presentation Copy Inscribed And Signed
• Seller catalogs:
  • History
  • Military

About this title

Synopsis

<DIV>In Italy in 1943 British troops came upon a highly desirable billet abandoned by the retreating Germans, its front door invitingly half open. Entering cautiously through a window, to avoid the likely booby trap, they approached the front door from inside and found attached to it the expected explosive charge apparently designed to function when the door was moved. They left the house and attached a line to the doorknob of the front door. They retreated across the road to a conveniently sited slit trench and pulled the line. A second trap hidden in the trench and connected to the door exploded and killed them all. This fiendish and lethal attack illustrates the effectiveness of booby traps and the ingenuity with which they can be laid. A booby trap is any device which is designed, constructed or adapted to kill or injure, and which functions unexpectedly when a person disturbs or approaches an apparently harmless object or performs an apparently safe act. Also included are manually emplaced munitions designed to kill or injure, which are set off by remote control or automatically after a lapse of time. Malice Aforethought covers the period from WWI to Vietnam, and examines the malicious use of explosives in booby traps and sabotage devices by all sides during this period. It looks at their design, development, deployment and effectiveness, and is fully illustrated with photographs and illustrations of many of the devices used.</DIV>

About the Author

Ian Jones has worked in bomb disposal for the last thirty-five years. As a major in the British Army, he served as officer commanding for all bomb disposal in Northern Ireland as well as working in Germany, Bosnia, Belize, Southern Africa, and most recently in Kosovo. He is now an explosives officer for the Metropolitan Police Force Bomb Squad in London.