B&D Publishing Reference Books...thoughts??

[docmaster1]

Hello all

I have been playing with the idea of getting a few reference books on World War 2 German Militaria. I have a few older ones that I have used like Nazi Regalia and Nazi insignias of WW2, etc. but I want to her a few higher quality and more expansive books. I was looking at the B&D Publishing reference books. It seems there are several that would fall into my collection criteria. However before shelling out $150 for a book I wanted to get some opinions and feedback on them. My thought were to get several of them if they are good.

Has anyone owned these books? Feedback? Opinions?

Are there any other books I should look at instead?

Thanks!

Dave C


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[Fred Green]

Hello,

Most collectors will have these books in their libraries. They have quality clear photos concise information on sizes, weights manufacturers markings and die information.

Fred

[Nick Carraway]

These are the best books written by people that have put real research into their books. Great images. Tells you what is real and how to know that. B&D is the best - I own all their books and a small investment in books has saved me a small fortune. Buy them!

[Thomas Durante]

Hi Dave,

Yes, I would highly recommend any & all B&D books. These are "serious" collector books, so you just need to make a decision if you are serious about this hobby.

If you are, then these books are a necessity. Yes, at first glance $150 sounds like alot of money for a book, but if you intend to be a serious collector then these books are a valuable investment. Investment in your knowledge and one that will pay for itself. The fakes in our hobby are very good, so these books more than pay for themselves and help protect your investment. Not sure what you are looking to collect, but when lowly IABs start at $125 and Knights Crosses go for $8,500+; then shelling out $150 for a book chock full of information on how to identify fakes should be a no-brainer. If the book saves you from buying 1 fake, you have already paid for that book (and the fakes are PLENTIFUL in our hobby unfortunately).

I have all B&D books that have to do with Third Reich awards. I am a focused combat badge collector (Heer, LW & Kriegs). I don't collect Knights Crosses, Iron Crosses or Party Badges, etc., however I purchased those books as well from B&D becuase it helps your knowledge base. And there is alot of cross over in areas (i.e., information about the LDO and PKZ, etc is very helpful to learn about and understand). B&D books are well written and fact-based, so they are excellent reference tools to have as a collector regardless of what area you are focusing on.

Tom

[chen]

Although not B&D published, these 2 Tom's books are a MUST if you want to study these 2 types of badges. The format is very similar to B&D one.

[Brian R]

I agree with the points above, especially Tom's "crossover" reference. I have many of the B&D books, and other non-B&D books, of subjects I don't particularly collect, but use them for reference on a regular basis anyway.

[docmaster1]

Hello,

Most collectors will have these books in their libraries. They have quality clear photos concise information on sizes, weights manufacturers markings and die information.

Fred

Hello Fred,

Thank you for the feedback. The clarity of the photos and amount of photos was one thing I was concerned with. So it is good ito confirm that the books have high quality photos.

Thanks again

Dave C


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[docmaster1]

These are the best books written by people that have put real research into their books. Great images. Tells you what is real and how to know that. B&D is the best - I own all their books and a small investment in books has saved me a small fortune. Buy them!

Hey Nick

I noticed that some of the books were authored by different people leading me to believe they had "the best" people in each field wrote the books, which is a great thing!!

Thanks again for the info!

Dave C


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[docmaster1]

Hi Dave,

Yes, I would highly recommend any & all B&D books. These are "serious" collector books, so you just need to make a decision if you are serious about this hobby.

If you are, then these books are a necessity. Yes, at first glance $150 sounds like alot of money for a book, but if you intend to be a serious collector then these books are a valuable investment. Investment in your knowledge and one that will pay for itself. The fakes in our hobby are very good, so these books more than pay for themselves and help protect your investment. Not sure what you are looking to collect, but when lowly IABs start at $125 and Knights Crosses go for $8,500+; then shelling out $150 for a book chock full of information on how to identify fakes should be a no-brainer. If the book saves you from buying 1 fake, you have already paid for that book (and the fakes are PLENTIFUL in our hobby unfortunately).

I have all B&D books that have to do with Third Reich awards. I am a focused combat badge collector (Heer, LW & Kriegs). I don't collect Knights Crosses, Iron Crosses or Party Badges, etc., however I purchased those books as well from B&D becuase it helps your knowledge base. And there is alot of cross over in areas (i.e., information about the LDO and PKZ, etc is very helpful to learn about and understand). B&D books are well written and fact-based, so they are excellent reference tools to have as a collector regardless of what area you are focusing on.

Tom

Hey Tom

I am getting pretty serious about this hobby. That's kind of why I am looking for a good reference book. Plus I wanted to get a series of books that are the "same" or in the same format. I see myself definitely buying several of these books! I also totally agree with your concept of the "cost" of the book. If the book or books save me from getting burned even one time they paid for themselves! In all honesty 150 bucks really isn't that much for a book, it seems kind of average when buying reference books.

I think I am looking to get the books that focus on the Heer (vol. 1 and 2), the Kreigsmarine volume and also a few Luftwaffe volumes.

I do have one question though....If you could find one criticisms of these books what would that be?

Thank you for the time and info!

Thanks,

Dave C


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[Gary B]

Dave,

Depending what you collect, or want to collect, there are other companies who produce books on subjects not published/covered by B&D (Dietrich is a friend and I own almost all of his company's books as well as subscribe to his magazine - which I also recommend, but I just wanted to point out other book companies).

As already stated: Tom Durante's books on the CCCs and Para badges are excellent references - with one more in the work on Bomber clasps, Frank Heukemas' superb book on PABs, Stephen Previtera has some excellent books on the EK, PLM, Flight Clasps (published under Winedore press), Cartsen Baldes has several books on Imperial Avn badges as does Randy Pandis, Tiger Press with Neil Stewart and Tim Curly books on Waffenrocks, Flags, TDBs and shooting lanyards(both members here), Bender Publications has some super references and Schiffer Publications (the massive multi Vol set on the GD Div written by WAF member Scott Pritchett, Tom Yanacek's book on Medal Bars (Schiffer). Antonio Scapini is, I believe published under B&D.

All books have their faults that are revealed over time. Some have inadvertently included repros/fakes. Some times new info comes to light after a book has been published that disproves or proves something. Some of these books publish an addendum but a lot of the faults are discussed on the forum here and you can keep up to date that way.

Gary B

[Ralph P]

I totally agree with the earlier comments in this thread...bottom line, reference books are a must for any collecting interest especially if a collector is going to shell out a lot of money, and B&D books are a must have that will better assist and educate with your decisions. And I also agree that Thomas Durante's books need to be part in any collector's book reference.

[docmaster1]

Although not B&D published, these 2 Tom's books are a MUST if you want to study these 2 types of badges. The format is very similar to B&D one.

Hey man,

I will have to check those out as I am looking into getting the Luftwaffe books. Thanks for the info

Dave C



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[Thomas Durante]

I do have one question though....If you could find one criticisms of these books what would that be?

Hi Dave,

Really the only negative I have is that these books are more like school textbooks, so they can get a little boring if you are trying to read them cover to cover. My books on the Para and CCC badges certainly suffer from that, they are very repetative showing the same 5 pictures of each badge over and over again (front, back, hinge, catch, & maker mark). It can get tedious seeing the same pictures over and over again.

But that is the nature of the beast; I knew collectors would have been disappointed if they didn't see their exact variant of Paratrooper badge in my book so that means showing every little variation down to the hinge, catch and maker-mark level. Also, repetition on the seeing many pictures of the same type of hinge or catch gets you familiar with what wartime original hardware should look like so when you see something different at a show, it automatically raises a red flag when something isn't right.

So bad news is the books can be a bit boring; good news is they make excellent teaching tools for you to spot fakes and keep your hard-earned money in your pocket.

Fortunately for you, the B&D books you are looking at don't really suffer from the tedium above because they are more of an overview of many badges, unlike my Para or CCC book. Specifically the Heer Badges Vol 1 and 2 are excellent, and flow more like a regular book. They give you broad brush strokes of each badge, and just narrow down the facts you need then move on to another badge. Very well done and will give you an excellent knowledge base to grow from.

Tom

[docmaster1]

They give you broad brush strokes of each badge, and just narrow down the facts you need then move on to another badge. Very well done and will give you an excellent knowledge base to grow from.



Tom[/QUOTE]


Hey Tom

Thanks for the great explanation and info. I can imagine looking at the same picture just a different variance could get a little boring.

Thanks again. I am definitely going to pull the trigger on a few of these books.

Thanks!

Dave C



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[docmaster1]

Dave,



Depending what you collect, or want to collect, there are other companies who produce books on subjects not published/covered by B&D (Dietrich is a friend and I own almost all of his company's books as well as subscribe to his magazine - which I also recommend, but I just wanted to point out other book companies).



As already stated: Tom Durante's books on the CCCs and Para badges are excellent references - with one more in the work on Bomber clasps, Frank Heukemas' superb book on PABs, Stephen Previtera has some excellent books on the EK, PLM, Flight Clasps (published under Winedore press), Cartsen Baldes has several books on Imperial Avn badges as does Randy Pandis, Tiger Press with Neil Stewart and Tim Curly books on Waffenrocks, Flags, TDBs and shooting lanyards(both members here), Bender Publications has some super references and Schiffer Publications (the massive multi Vol set on the GD Div written by WAF member Scott Pritchett, Tom Yanacek's book on Medal Bars (Schiffer). Antonio Scapini is, I believe published under B&D.



All books have their faults that are revealed over time. Some have inadvertently included repros/fakes. Some times new info comes to light after a book has been published that disproves or proves something. Some of these books publish an addendum but a lot of the faults are discussed on the forum here and you can keep up to date that way.



Gary B

Hey Gary,

Thank you for ALL THE info! It will take me a while to review all the authors and books you listed but I have already looked into a few of them and found them to be very informative!

It's always good to get other perspectives on things and thanks to your post, and others here, I feel I have a pretty good understanding of what books are available and there strengths and weaknesses.

Thanks again Gary!

Dave C


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