Customer Reviews

American Military Patch Guide

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

From the title and the description, I was expecting a comprehensive guide to patches from all service branches. In fact, this book is heavily weighted in favor of Army patches. There are no patches for individual ships, submarines, or aviation units (i.e., squadrons). If you are interested in such patches you must look elsewhere. The patches are clearly reproduced, but I would have appreciated more information on each patch: unless you are already familiar with an individual unit, it's difficult to determine when the patches were in use.

this book was an interesting collection of military patches with many colorful illustrations of various shoulder sleeve insignia.

my main interest was in us army airborne patches, and i was disappointed that more of that type were not shown. i have later learned that several errors were made in the collection.

i would have enjoyed seeing more narrative text to explain what some of the patches represented, when they were worn, and how the authors came to discover the existence of many of the patches shown.

i feel i got my money's worth with the book, but will continue to look for a definitive source about the subject of airborne patches.

Mostly Army patches which is what I collect, but the majority off the newer patches, are not included even though they were approved in the nineties??? What's up with that. But the book is more comprehensive than others I own.

Over 2,000 patches and tabs are represented in this remarkably comprehensive guide. From World War I to the present, not only the Army (with a fine selection of pocket and unofficial patches), but also Army Air forces and Aviation, Navy, Marine Corps, Civil Air Patrol, and National Guard are logically organized, illustrated in full color, and identified with checkoff boxes for the collector.
The excellent production values, generous coverage, illustrated essay on patch construction, guide to correct wear, handy table of contents, glossary, World War II organizational chart, and other useful features make this possibly the best patch guide available today, and certainly the most for the modest price. Highly recommended for the collector, WWII buff, and student of military history. (Also available in softcover.)

(The "score" rating is an ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books.)

Have not read the book but as for the title another author forgets about the 5th armed service - the United States Coast Guard - which has been involved in every major conflict. In fact, during WWII most landing craft were piloted by Coasties. Funny that they rate the CAP as a military service per the title. I'll give it a couple stars as I'm sure it does a fine job of showing other service patches.