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Basic World War I Reference Books


gwb123
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Even though the Centennial of the Armistice of the Great War has come and gone, I am sure there are many collectors who because of the recent commemorations who may have developed an interest in the subject.

 

Let me start this thread with two basic recommendations to get one started:

 

The first is "An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Uniforms of World I. It has over 400 color illustrations and a number of black and white photographs.

 

https://www.amazon.c...y/dp/0754823407

 

This is not the book that is going to show you the backside of an English infantry man's uniform button. But as an introduction to the topic it is very wide ranging and reasonably priced.

 

With that said, the artist seemed to struggle with certain uniform items. Some of the British Brodie helmets look a bit odd, as do the US Army "Montana" campaign hats.

 

Also for all of the uniforms that are illustrated, I could only find one for a woman, that being a member of the ill fated Imperial Russian "Women's Battalion of Death". If you are looking for a reference on female uniforms, you will have to look elsewhere.

WWI Book 2.jpg

WWI Book.jpg

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Next up, also in the basic reference book category is The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War I, with the well known Chris Bishop as general editor.

 

Small arms, artillery, tanks, airplanes, ships and submarines.... all promised to be covered by this one volume.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Illustrated-Encyclopedia-Weapons-World-War/dp/1782741410/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544414137&sr=8-1&keywords=illustrated+encyclopedia+of+weapons+of+world+war+i

 

There are gaps, of course. While submarines and battleships are covered in detail, US and British destroyers, which were vital to protecting the Atlantic convoys, are nowhere to be found. Aircraft in all their variations could fill several volumes, but you will find the key ones here. Still, it's a well illustrated starting point if you are starting at zero knowledge of the time period.

WW I book 2.jpg

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I'm guessing this is a recent combining of two reference booklets into one which is softbound. Unlike the very expensive prices for Schiffer books this is the best (cost wise) WW1 reference book I have found for US militaria.

 

 

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I am going by memory here (I will edit it later when I get a moment to add more), but I still think that 'Field Equipment of the Infantry' by Robert Fisch has a place on a collector's bookshelf. It is an older hardback reference book, most of the photos are in black & white, with a selection of color plates in the middle of the book. I believe it was first printed in 1979, however it is handy for the beginner and even well established collector who doesn't know a lot about international militaria of the WWI era. It generally contains a short description of an item, and then a photograph of it. So it is ideally suited to identifying individual pieces of field equipment (especially European) that you may not be very familiar with. Used books are probably the major source for these, but I believe Advance Guard Militaria has (or did have) some new old stock books available for purchase not too long ago.

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