Talk:Fraser Barron

Self-published source
The article is mostly based on a self-published biography that is only held by five libraries and shows signs of purple prose, eg "He was one of those young airmen who never showed fear and didn't know when to call it quits." The author seems to be an amateur historian whose work is almost exclusively self published. How can this be considered a reliable source? buidhe 03:52, 14 January 2020 (UTC)
 * , according to that World Cat link, as I interpret it, the book is actually held by 37 institutions including libraries in Australia, one in Germany as well as the LOC. I'm not sure where the five came from. Regardless, although he has self-published some works (I suspect some of his early works on the Boer War and New Zealand Wars were published at a time when the topics may not have commercially viable for larger publishers in New Zealand), Stowers has also had books published by well known and reputable publishers - the best known of these is probably [Bloody Gallipoli, which was published by David Bateman Limited, a reputable publisher in New Zealand, and has been the subject of several news articles, such as this. His books have been cited by well known historians, for example reviewing some books in my own collection, [[Glyn Harper]] cites Bloody Gallipoli in Johnny Enzed. Another Stowers title Heroes of Gallipoli is cited in For King and Other Countries published just last year. Christopher Pugsley, like Harper a well known military historian, cites one Stower's self-published titles in relation to the Boer War in his book Kiwis in Conflict. Cliff Simons refers to another of Stower's self-published titles in Soldiers, Scouts and Spies, recently published by Massey University Press. There will be other examples of Stower's work being referred to by noted historians. He has even written an article for the New Zealand Government's commemorative website for the centenary of the First World War. All in all, he should be considered a reliable source despite some of his work being self-published. Zawed (talk) 09:22, 14 January 2020 (UTC)