[DocSavage]

I love BBC History magazine. I am also a World War 2 enthusiast.

Considering the above it was a given that i would be purchasing the new special edition, 'Britain's Year of Defiance.' I thought a tenner was a bit expesnive but i bit the bullet and ordered my copy anyway.

I didn't gripe when it took 10 days to arrive as i had plenty of back isues to read through whilst i eagerly awaited it.

What I did gripe at was what was in the envelope when it landed on my mat.

A 97 page REPRODUCTION of what I had already paid for, and still had as reference material (and in most cases, had just read in anticipation for the delivery of this!)

Fine, i thought, maybe the tenner was for the audiobook? Nope, i was wrong. An hour-long collection of snippets which was basically just an extended podcast.

I only wonder if I am the only one feeling a bit miffed about this 'not-so-special' edition? I don't feel it was made clear anywhere that this magazine was going to be essentially a yearbook of articles already published in the magazine and thus thought I was paying (the quite substantial price) for new reading material.

Surley not just a money making excerise from the BBC here....?

[Dave Musgrove]

Hi there
Thanks for the feedback, and obviously sorry that you're not happy with the special issue. My view and hope is that the package of magazine and CD is an attractive and collectible one. Though you're right that there are a lot of features in it that have been in the magazine before, there's also some great new material (almost half the content has not previously been in the magazine I think). As regards the audiobook, clearly it didn't live up to your expectations but I thought it was a really compelling listen with lots of great clips that bring the story of that year alive in a very different way to words and pictures.
Dave

[DocSavage]

Dave, i'm not moaning. I understand the reason for this issue and i have no doubt that it will be much appreciated by many of your readers.

Can i just make a suggestion? When you do your next Special Edition can you make a note somewhere on the advert for it, in the mag elsewhere, or even on the website, that it is not all original content. This way, readers can make an informed decision as to whether they need to purchase it or not.

Thanks for taking the time to reply anyway, and thanks for a great magazine.

Roland