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    The Decorations of Socialist Albania - 3rd Edition


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    Hi all:

    It has been quite some time since I have been here (work has sadly occupied much of any time I have had recently), but wanted everyone who is interested to know that I am finished with the 3rd edition. Some folks may already have a copy (I wish I could remember who...), but if you are interested in a copy and your email can take a 15 meg PDF file, send me your name and email address and I'll shoot a copy to you free. Please pass copies around - just DO NOT SELL THEM EVER. They are free for a reason - I want people to have this information and I want to contribute to the greater body of knowledge.

    I have decided that this will be the last edition. I am very pleased to hear folks in Albania are working on a book and would like that to be the "bible". My sincere hope is that my modest and albeit incomplete work has in some way fueled interest in these fantastic awards and more importantly a new-found interest in the very fascinating if not tortured history of this great country and its proud people. I sincerely hope that the folks working on the new book will want a copy so if you know anyone working on that project who would like a copy, let me know.

    Cheers!

    Eric

    Edited by Eric Schena
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    Welcome back, mate. Always a problem when demands of Real Life have to take precedence. Thanks for all your fine work, which has defined and invented the field! For better or worse any source in Albanian will have only a limited impact.

    :jumping::beer:

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    Dear Eric,

    your work (2nd edition) has become my "livre de chevet", when I'm in an "albanian collecting mood" so, I'm very happy that the 3rd definitive edition has come to light.

    Best wishes,

    Enzo

    Am not so sure about the definitive part - now also a major section on badges added... just when I thought I had reached the bottom of the slippery slope, it turns out there's even more! :speechless::cheeky: Have quite some myself already, but I bet there's MANY more still to be discovered.

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    Thanks for all the kind words. I must say that I am the first person who'd say this is not the definitive guide :D I do not have as much access to source material as I would hope for, so I have always considered this an introductory guide upon which new stuff can be added. That's the great thing about this forum - folks from around the world can share their knowledge with others. I hope my book is a solid foundation upon which others can build.

    Cheers,

    Eric

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    Hi all:

    It has been quite some time since I have been here (work has sadly occupied much of any time I have had recently), but wanted everyone who is interested to know that I am finished with the 3rd edition. Some folks may already have a copy (I wish I could remember who...), but if you are interested in a copy and your email can take a 15 meg PDF file, send me your name and email address and I'll shoot a copy to you free. Please pass copies around - just DO NOT SELL THEM EVER. They are free for a reason - I want people to have this information and I want to contribute to the greater body of knowledge.

    I have decided that this will be the last edition. I am very pleased to hear folks in Albania are working on a book and would like that to be the "bible". My sincere hope is that my modest and albeit incomplete work has in some way fueled interest in these fantastic awards and more importantly a new-found interest in the very fascinating if not tortured history of this great country and its proud people. I sincerely hope that the folks working on the new book will want a copy so if you know anyone working on that project who would like a copy, let me know.

    Cheers!

    Eric

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    Quoting Eric: "...so I have always considered this an introductory guide...".

    I remember that also Sir Alan Gardiner called his work "Egyptian Grammar - being an introduction to the study of hieroglyphs": three editions (1927; 1950; 1957) and innumerable reprints until today.

    That monument of philology, still introduces a lot of scholars and students into the world of egyptian language.

    See? That book was published in 3 editions: this means that us collectors are waiting at least for the 3rd edition of our introduction to the study of Albanian Orders & Decorations...

    Best wishes,

    Enzo

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    I would really like to say thank you to Eric for a tremendous good and professional work he has done and I believe is the bible of albanian socialist awards with no precedent. until i received the book the medals in albania were collected by very few people still are, but their collections were very primitive not defining the different versions of the medals where they were made and the details that were behind them. After I presented these people with eric's book their scope and way of collecting was deeply reformed in a more professional manner. this is all thanks to eric's work and this forum in general. thanks again and you are Sir Alan Gardiner of albanian medals abc...

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    Thank you so much for your kind words, Elvis! I am truly humbled and honored that my dumb little book has made a positive contribution to collecting and understanding Albania's medals, even in Albania itself.

    And to everyone:

    I have had a few folks let me know of some minor corrections I should make, plus a few really good pictures have come my way (BOB: hope you do not mind, but I am replacing my very poor pictures of the Hero of the People/Hero of Socialist Labor badges with your fantastic examples, credited of course), so I will see what I can do about having a "corrected" 3rd edition posted here for all to enjoy and download at your leisure. That way you won't have to worry about email size restrictions. There won't be anything too horribly different, just a few tweaks here and there to make it better.

    Again, thanks to all for your interest in this and to everyone's assistance in helping me keep it up!

    Cheers,

    Eric

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    No problem Eric - everything that can help to get the documented materials on Albanian awards complete is great. Hopefully we can stimulate more people to come out with some of the extremely rare items still not seen on photograph!

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