are these books any good?

[tollickd]

sorry if this is not in the right forum!

have just started collecting looking at these books are they worth getting?

1) Flags of the Third Reich Brian L. Davis, Malcolm McGregor

does it have a good look at the flags and banners also are pics of flags not just drawings?

2)Collector's Guide to Third Reich Militaria
Robin Lumsden

does it have a widerange of daggers,flags,uniforms, and caps inc some SS stuff?

3) Badges and Insignia of the Third Reich 1933-1945
Brian L. Davis

any good?

last one

4) German Army Uniforms and Insignia, 1933-1945
Brian L. Davis

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i am looking for a good collection of books that show photos and infomation on uniforms,daggers,swords,flags

please help if you have your own recommendations please say

daniel

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Daniel, all of the books you mention are worth having. You cannot have enough reference books. Number 4 on your list though is a must!
Number 2 is good if you are just starting out collecting and covers a bit of everything. It is now a bit dated due to fakes being much better than he describes.
Numbers 1 & 3 are mainly colour drawings as I recall? I have only looked at them and I do not have them.
Hope this helps?
Cheers, Ade.

[Dave Suter]

All the books you mention are okay. I have a copy of each. However, all except the Flags book are not as in-depth as some others available. Lots of drawings too. For army uniforms & insignia I would suggest you get the 3 volumes of Jack Angolia's series.

[tollickd]

one more for a review please

Uniforms of the Third Reich
Arthur Hayes, Jon A Maguire

daniel

[keifer kahn]

I personally would avoid anything authored by robinn lumsden.He is regular supplier of misinformation.Borrow dont buy a copy of his latest offering"edged weapons of hitlers germany" and you will see the crap he has written.It also got a good lambasting off several critics.He was also one of the originators of the single circle rzm mark myth,and has been proven wrong by many."detecting the fakes"is also full of misinformation,As is "medals and decorations of hitlers germany"

His books are inaccurate and only good as coffee table leg supports.

regards keifer

[DonC]

Lumsden's Book

One thing that Lumsden's book is good for is the list of RZM codes and maker's marks. It is pretty comprehensive. I would agree that most of Lumsden's "examples" of fakes, espeically in uniforms and headgear, are simplistic when one looks at the unbelievable lengths that fakers go to today. Just check out the weekly German Cross auctions out of Eastern Europe on eBay (I will admit, I am bitter about that because when they first came out, the reserve was only $150 and I didn't grab one). I am a big fan of Angolia's series and also of Brian Davis' work for headgear and uniforms.

Don

[Panzer]

Hi Daniel,
it is all about WHAT you are going to collect basically, as to what will interest you. But lucky you! There are so many good books out now unlike when some of us started years ago.

I can very much recommend the 3 volumes of "Uniforms and Traditions of the German Army" by Angolia & Schlicht....an absolute must if collecting Heer uniforms & equipment. German Army Uniforms and Insignia by Brian L. Davis was one of my first books and is still a handy reference. The Hayes & Maguire books mentioned below are not very informative I find but just interesting pictures....and too expensive for that.

However, best thing you can do is look through the suitable entries in this recent thread: http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...threadid=16210 which will show you what people are generally using. You'll even find a couple of my books in there!

Hope that helps you and congratulations on making reading & learning a priority! It is the cornerstone of making a good collection and having fun with it.
Cheers, Wade Krawczyk.

[dm5000]

Lumsden

Do your self a favor and skip over the Lumsden books. They are OK if you are just getting started and know nothing about German militaria, but you will outgrow their usefullness VERY quickly. They tend to have a lot of small black and white photos and crude hand drawings which are not of much use.

On the other hand...

The Brian L Davis books I still use very often mostly because they are so comprehensive, especially the one on insignia. IF you come across something you scratch your head saying, "what the f*ck is that thing?" you can usually find it in a minute or so from the color plates in the book. It covers all kinds of weird stuff that you wouldnt ordinarily recognize, like forestry, railroad and postal insignia.

Dave