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Badges and Insignia of the Third Reich 1933-1945
A guide to German military uniform with nearly 1300 items illustrated in colour artwork. Aimed at all who need authoritative information on the subject - from military historians and uniform collectors to film and TV costumiers.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 1983
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 31, 2011
What this book does is give a very broad overview of the scope of German insignia throughout the Reich - from train conductors to the various branches of the military, the Party, the ladies auxiliary services, and more - even the Legion Condor is included.
Given the broad approach to this enormously complex subject, only a taste can be given. I would have preferred that the subject matter be broken up into many volumes, but I'm not sure the market would have borne such an enterprise.
The colour plates are brilliant - rather than photos of fading, rotting artifacts, McGregor has very nicely rendered each piece of insignia by hand. There is a scale bar on each page so one can judge the size of the insignia, all done to scale with each other, plus McGregor has found a technique to actually convey the texture of the embroidery in many cases.
Explanatory text is adequate, and there are period photos throughout the text that provide additional amplification, but not nearly enough.
Rated a 4 because of the technical quality of the coloured plates. Should not be considered the only resource for anyone interested in particular branches.
Given the broad approach to this enormously complex subject, only a taste can be given. I would have preferred that the subject matter be broken up into many volumes, but I'm not sure the market would have borne such an enterprise.
The colour plates are brilliant - rather than photos of fading, rotting artifacts, McGregor has very nicely rendered each piece of insignia by hand. There is a scale bar on each page so one can judge the size of the insignia, all done to scale with each other, plus McGregor has found a technique to actually convey the texture of the embroidery in many cases.
Explanatory text is adequate, and there are period photos throughout the text that provide additional amplification, but not nearly enough.
Rated a 4 because of the technical quality of the coloured plates. Should not be considered the only resource for anyone interested in particular branches.
February 12, 2012
Indispensable for model-builders, figure-painters and WWII historians like me. The rest of you can dispense with it rather easily, actually. Hoping to find the companion volume, Uniforms of the Third Reich, soon.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews