Firstly I agree with the others who have defended the author in relation to the unfair comments. I for one look forward to receiving my copy and making my own judgement!
Also, why, just because it is a Bristol book, does it have to cost hundreds of pounds to be considered any good? The amount of illustrations and research in a book doesn't always mean that it is automatically selling at a high price and a low price doesn't mean it will automatically be a poor book. A friend of mine who wrote an enormously concise and detailed biography of Mike Hawthorn last year, spent many hundreds of hours researching interviewing and sanctioning one-off illustrations. His well illustrated 450page book was only selling for between £45 and £60 a copy.
I seem to remember the Oxley book wasn't that expensive when first published. However due to Bristol being quite a niche marque in terms of mass interest, I imagine only very few copies were sold, hence the enormous prices they fetch now on ebay.
The fact this new Bristol book is by such a large publisher as Haynes means that it will naturally be lower priced than some of the 'boutique' publishing companies who publish leather bound tomes for hundreds of pounds. As well as their hardbacked technical manuals for Ford Fiestas, Haynes do publish some well-printed and well-bound books in their more expensive ranges.
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