One Book - Two Titles

I'm doing some reading as part of my research for "Take On Camping", including other instructional books on the subject.

Recently I took the well-known guide "The Backpacker's Field Manual" out of the library for a bit of a refresher. There are some interesting things in there, although it is mainly geared towards people leading groups into the backcountry.

Last weekend that book was due back at the library, so I returned it and had another browse around the bookshelf to see if there were other books on the topic I hadn't checked out yet. There I found the "Collins Camping and Hiking Manual."

I grabbed it and signed it out figuring there would probably be some worthwhile reading in it. Then I cracked it open when I got home, and much to my surprise it looked awfully familiar. Kind of like the book I had just returned.

In fact, they are exactly the same book - just slightly revised in the Collins edition to suit the UK market. (ie. metric measurements are more prevalent)

This was kind of funny to me - but what really took the cake was looking up the Collins book on Amazon.co.uk. If you shop on Amazon at all, you'll know that they often pair up two books and offer a slightly discounted price if you buy both together. Well, they were offering a discounted price to buy "The Backpacker's Field Manual" AND "Collins Camping and Hiking Manual" - that's right, two versions of THE SAME BOOK!

I'm guessing Amazon simply didn't realise these were the same book with two titles - or at least I hope not. I hate to think they were intentionally trying to rip people off like that. It's a useful book and all, but I think one copy is enough for most people.