Whenever the first copies of a book arrive in the office there is always a bit of a buzz. For some of us it is an exciting time, a chance to pick up a book that we probably first heard about two years previously. Sometimes the time between a title being approved for production at what we call a “Publishing Meeting” and the arrival of the book seems to take an age. Sometimes it just seems to fly by!

Of course not all of us get to stand around gossiping excitedly, “Oohing” and “Aahing” about the photos and how great the artwork is etc. For our Production and Design teams it is a nerve jangling first look through the finished article. Did anything go wrong? Does the colour match? Have the printers got the job right?
For the Sales team its time to get on the phones to the reps and for the Marketing team it is usually the trigger for an avalanche of press releases, review copy mailings, phone calls.

But on Thursday afternoon something arrived in the office which stopped us all dead in our tracks. Men-at-Arms: A Celebration had landed! Fellow blogger Phil was responsible for the project management of this book - so he was the first to get his hands on a copy, and within minutes, virtually the whole office was clustered around his desk, straining to catch a glimpse of the volume which has come to represent Osprey\'s 40th birthday.

9781846034367

And what a volume it is. Arranged chronologically, Men-at-Arms: A Celebration takes the reader through the history of world warfare from ancient times through to the present day. In turn it also takes you through the history of the Men-at-Arms series - showing off the artwork of some of our most prolific and treasured artists, including Angus McBride, Gerry Embleton, Ron Volstad, Mike Chappell and Patrice Courcelle. Slipcased, cloth-bound and weighing in at 388 pages, this special, limited-edition collector\'s volume is packed full of hundred\'s of our favourite illustrations from throughout the history of the Men-at-Arms series, together with their captions and a brief introduction to each period by Martin Windrow, who has worked on the series for decades.

You can pre-order Osprey Men-at-Arms: A Celebration today for £50 and will be available to buy in the US and Canada soon!

But... we have even more exciting news. We have also produced a highly exclusive, collectable run of 40 signed, numbered leather-bound versions of Men-at-Arms: A Celebration, each worth in excess of £150. Rather than simply selling these on our website, we will be auctioning them off over the next three months. Buy a copy and you can choose to be named on the Men-at-Arms: A Celebration web page that we are building - your name will be up in lights as the proud owner of one of these exclusive books.

Keep your eyes open here for more information about the auctions - we will post information up on the blog and forum, and additional information will go out in our monthly newsletters.