Police Insignia Book

[AndyD]

Hello,

I read on the forum somewhere that a new book about police insignia,is out/due to come out soon.

Does anyone know more about this book,like who the publisher is,when it's available,and,most important of all,does/will it feature Luftschutz police/fire police insignia?

All help appreciated!!

Kind regards,
Andy

[AndyD]

Does anyone know,or did I imagine this??


Kind regards,
Andy

[Simon O.]

I've heard the rumours too and would like to know myself.

[Dave C.]

The rumors are true, I hope, that the first volume of a series from the joint venture between Jack Angolia and Hugh Taylor will be out, as I heard, in December!!! Publisher is Roger Bender.

[Todd Gylsen]

Yes, I have also heard from Jack Angolia that he does indeed have a Polizei book coming out soon from Bender Publishing.

[Dave Suter]

The release of this book (actually a series) has been coming 'soon' for quite some time - we're talking around 3 years now. Keep waiting for that flyer to come in the mail........

[Simon O.]

Looks like i'll have to make some room on my 'Bender' shelf

[Dave C.]

Ahh, come on now Sarge, I believe it is really getting closer this time....

[Todd Gylsen]

For those who may not have browsed Benders site lately, the Polizei book by Angolia has now been released.

[HPT]

For the record Todd, this book is by Jack Angolia and me.

hpt

[TJ Suter]

Welcome to the forum Hugh. I'm a little less than half way through the book. I must say it is very well organized and it'll take more than one reading to absorb all of the material. I'm impressed with the original research that went into the book and the period photographs are outstanding.

Like many others, I have been waiting for this work for a number of years and it exceeded my expectations in both scope and volume. What topics will be covered in vol. 2 and 3?

[HPT]

Dear Thomas

Thank you for your kind greeting and words about my book with Jack for Roger on the Police. It was hard work putting it together but a lot of fun and very satisfying. I'm encouraging criticism but am pleased to report that so far reviews have been flattering. A couple of typos and one mis-identification of an officer in a photo (SS not police, phew!) have come up, which is not bad going at over 700 pages.

This is the introductory volume to a series that will cover all branches of the German police. I concentrated on the background, not just the formative Weimar period, but also further back, to when the word "Polizei" was first used.

Although not suggesting we have covered it all, I do believe we will probably not have much need to revert to the pre-1933 years in future volumes, except for setting the record straight over errors and omissions. It was not our intention to be exhaustive (over uniforms, organization or history) for the pre-3rd Reich period, but I wanted to give quite a lot of detail, and took the risk. Feedback so far suggests that this gamble paid off, and we have not been criticised for devoting too much space to background. Illustrating it well probably helped.

Volume 1 also gives a chronology of the 3rd Reich, to set the scene and provide a basis for coverage of individual branches and units in future volumes. By its very nature and the complexity of the subject, this is bound to have missed some important and interesting events, and so I expect (and hope!) to be able to add to that chronology in future volumes.

We broke our own rule somewhat by including in Volume 1 coverage of two branches of the police, the HIPO and the LAPO. I suggested this and Jack and Roger agreed, because they sort of stand alone, being born and then shut down quite early in the 3rd Reich. Our coverage of this particular form of HIPO seems fairly comprehensive (it is of course not to be confused with other "HIPOS" that emerged later), but the LAPO is also a vast subject and I am counting on fresh information coming in: hopefully also to expand on our uniform/insignia coverage.

The separate chronology of uniform and insignia development is something of a novelty and I hope it is well received. I am certain there are more interesting items to add to it and look forward to learning and sharing with our readers.

Jack of course did his usual brilliant job over uniforms and insignia in Chapter 8 and future volumes will see much more of this, along the lines of his previous trilogies for Roger on the WH, WM and WL. Quite a lot of that work has already been completed and will form the opening part of Volume 2. That book and the rest of the series will consider each and every branch of the police in turn: opening with history and organization, which will form the frame upon which to hang Jack's uniform/insignia knowledge and resources. I cannot say yet which branches will be covered in Volume 2. We will try and follow a logical sequence.

Hopefully we will also cover the various police forces of the occupied and collaborationist countries, even though strictly speaking these were not "German Police" and I do feel we must stick to our subject. Naturally the military and para-military police forces that served in the "bloodless conquests" and then in WW2 itself will be covered, although inevitably there will be in imbalance of order-of-battle against uniform and insignia coverage, as unlike the Waffen-SS, the war-time police elements were not rich in special uniforms/insignia.

I hope this summary helps.

I am delighted to be a part of this great Forum and honoured that you and others have bought the book, liked what you have read (so far, at least) and are posting kind words about it!

Makes it all worth while and I cannot wait for Volume 2 to appear. "When?" do I hear someone cry: hard to tell, but hopefully within twelve months.

Hugh

[Todd Gylsen]

Thanks for the information on the book Hugh and welcome to the forum. I apologize for missing you as an author on this book. My bust on this one. The book is outstanding! You, Jack and Roger have put together an outstanding refernce book which is a must for the Polizei collector. I look forward to reading your future volume(s).

[SCHUPO]

Gentlemen,

I want to congratulate Hugh and Jack for a groundbreaking work, in English, on the deliberately confusing "Uniforms, Organization, and History of the German Police." I say deliberately confusing because as the book makes clear in Chapter 2, the police structure was not only evolving during the time of the Weimar Republic but was made obscure in order to deal with the pressures of the Allied Control Commission and its enforcement of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. The manner in which this affected the police is made clear by the authors and is essential to understanding the organization of the various police organs.

The wonderful line drawing illustrations and uniform plates from Roland Schoenfelder's works from the 1930s are both witty and informative. The authors use of authoritative period sources such as Schoenfelder's work from "Vom Werden der deutschen Polizei" and "Der Deutsche Polizeibeamte" magazine, Herbert Knötel's uniform plates from "Uniformen-Markt," and the published RMdI regulations are essential. The authors were able to avoid the temptation to simply write a work on items of material culture and have produced a sweeping narrative to help the reader better understand the historical context of the various German Police organizations.

As an author myself, I can fully appreciate the hard work that went into this volume.

George Wheeler

[HPT]

Sincere thanks to Todd, George and everyone else who added this book to their library (and hopefully enjoyed it and found it useful).


We really hope to receive specific comments and criticisms and to hear from anyone who can correct errors and fill in gaps. It is such a complex subject!

Hugh