His Books

Throughout his professional years, Burder wrote a number of books on the subject of film making and producing. These include: 16mm Film Cutting (1976), Getting into Film and TV (1995), Forty Years in Films (2005), Fifty Years in Films (2009) and How to be a Film Producer: My Life in Films (2015). Copies of these books can be purchased and/or downloaded online through various websites, including eBay, Amazon and Waterstones. The book 16mm Film Cutting is a particularly useful handbook that teaches readers the art of film cutting as it relates to the important job of a film editor. The other four books mentioned feature helpful knowledge regarding the film industry, take readers behind the scenes of film and television and tell stories about the author, Mr Burder.

A very different book released by John Burder is Hell on Earth: My Life in the Trenches 1914-1918. This memoir tells the harrowing story of Burder's father's journey during World War I as a captain for the British Army. Captain Claud Burder wrote down all the shocking and terrifying experiences he faced in the trenches during the battles at Ypres and the Somme. He never shared them with anyone but kept these memories locked in a chest, which was opened by John Burder in 2009 while doing some cleaning. Burder was surprised to learn these details of his father's experience and did not want these stories to go untold. The memoir is a verbatim version of the pages written by Captain Burder. While authorship is given to Captain Claud Burder, John Burder is credited as editor.

In the beginning, John Burder printed 500 hardback copies and shared them with family and friends. Lacking the proper funding, Mr Burder sold his detached home in Bournemouth, Dorset in order to publish more copies of the memoir. After selling his home and moving into a smaller bungalow, Mr Burder was able to raise £25,000 to fund the publishing of additional copies. His goal is to share his father's story as much as possible, particularly with schools and colleges, rather than make money. Copies of the memoir Hell on Earth: My Life in the Trenches 1914-1918 are available online for purchase and download.

Similarly, Burder also wrote a book called Don't Mention the War!: 100 Years in War and Peace, A Family Story. Published in 2016, this book tells the intertwining stories of John and his father's lives between 1914 and 2014. It details the story mentioned above regarding Mr Burder's discovery of his father's World War II experience with information about John's experience as a film producer. Mr Burder certainly had a very interesting life as a producer and writer and may be well worth discovering through his various films and books.