Customer Reviews

An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Military Uniforms of the 19th Century: An Expert Guide to the American Civil War, the Boer War, the Wars of German and ... Colonial Wars (Illustrated Encyclopaedia of)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Once again, Lorenz Books issues a title with such great promise that turns out to be a let-down due to really poor editing. I just received my copy on Friday & was very disappointed in many errors that should have been caught before the book went to press. This book should be mandatory for any military history or uniformology buff's bookshelf but turns out to be one that you have to check the accuracy of by comparing with other titles.
Some of the worst offenses are:
1. Page 82/Brunswick Infantry Sgt:The uniform should be black & not green.
2. Page 114/Private,U.S. Sharpshooters: The frock coat is missing the early sky-blue or later emerald green piping. The print from the Company of Military Historians dating from the 1960's was relied on for this illustration but that was a mistake to not check other references.
3.Page 114/Private of Wilder's Lightning Brigade: This should have been labeled as a Brigade scout as the bulk of the Brigade carried full-length rifles such as the Spencer & not carbines.
4. Page 127/ 3rd New Jersey Cavalry: The hussar-style shell-jacket is missing the regulation yellow braid over the orange patch on the front of the collar. Also there is a bit of "blue" by the top of the collar patch just like in the CMH print's coloring error.
5. Page 131/Sgt. U.S. Marine Corps: This is a TOTALLY inexcusable error, the USMC undress frock coat had red piping on the cuffs & lower part of the collar only, not yellow piping all around the collar. That was part of the dress uniform's frock coat which was a totally different garment.
6. Page 117/ 39th New York-Garibaldi Guard & 88th Volunteer Infantry: The uniform jackets should be dark blue & not grey.
Considering the amazing artistic style of the illustrations it is a real shame that the book is ruined by piss-poor editing just like the previous "Uniform Encyclopedia" titles by Lorenz Books. Yes, errors do happen but with these books there are just far too many for them to be relied upon as a trustworthy reference. While I feel the American Civil War could have warranted it's own volume & it would have made an indispensible work for younger readers new to the subject I do recommemend the book but as always with these titles from Lorenz, with reservations. Hopefully the upcoming title on World War I will be properly proof-read & edited. I also feel it's about time for some real original research instead of just copying what's found in Company of Military Historians prints & Osprey Men-At-Arms titles.

...the editing leaves something to be desired. The paintings themselves are all beautifully executed and vividly rendered in full color (indeed, some are so finely detailed and realistic that they might almost be taken for modern photographs). Since the illustrations are likely the reason most people will purchase the book, I still give it four stars overall, in spite of the caveats listed below. (Military modelers like myself, for instance, will no doubt find the book a great source of detailed pictorial information on post-Napoleonic 19th century uniforms, and some may not notice or care much about relatively minor textual quibbles.)

However, the supporting text seems to suffer somewhat from a lack of careful copy-editing; I have not yet read the book through, so I can't say for sure how widespread the errors are, but at least twice a caption or paragraph breaks off in mid-sentence, leaving the reader to suppy the rest as best they can. Once a pair of captions is transposed, with an American artillery officer in the Boxer Rebellion misattributed as a Bengal Lancer, and vice-versa. (Not a major problem of indentification for anyone at all interested in the subject, of course, but a minor annoyance at least.) I would hope that the publishers correct these errors in a subsequent edition, or at least issue an errata sheet.

Overall, though, I am pleased with this purchase, and I would still recommend the book on the strength of its excellent illustrations.

Got the the Illustrated Encyclopedia of Military Uniforms of the 19th Century: An Expert Guide to the American Civil War, the Boer War, the Wars of German and ... Colonial Wars, today and from a guy who has aload of books on uniforms I,m happy to say that this one is very good. The narrative is interesting and detailed to a certain degree, no real problems, also great period paintings, uniform unit/description plates ( if this is the right term for this ) these plates list in example all the regiments involved in several of the topics as well as their unit colour distinctions and or badges. Though the illustrations are in the main, excellent, there appears to be more than one artist, the drawings done by one of artists has the uniforms and equipment as well as the overall body and face of the figures in top notch form, this artist does the majority of the uniforms, on the other hand the second one sorry to say is a bit on the lower scale, not to say that they are completly bad but you will notice the differance between the two,there is also as other reviewers pointed out some errors in weapon depictions on the french soliders in particular which is as mentioned puzzling, having said that, this does detract from the overall appeal of the book.

I love these type of books on uniforms, it is also a good one for younger boys who might be liking this kind of stuff, as it is an easy read as well as the above mentioned, I of course don't enjoy every book on uniforms that has come out, but I like this one. So far I have noticed two errors thus far, One being the second artists rendering of civil war U.S.Cavalrymen, here the yellow piping is orange and not the yellow it would have been, two, another drawing, this one done by the better artist, who in his depiction of another civil war U.S.Cavalryman has given his regimental number as 7, this is an error as the 7th Cavalry was not formed until after the war had ended in 1866, But again this are but only two examples and if there are more they will be of a minor nature, one if is really interested in militaria one can always cross referance with other sourses to see the complete picture, this how one becomes expert in this area. So the book was well worth the shot I gave it and as some one who knows his stuff, I was not disapointed.

This is the third of these books I have bought and they are are excellent for the cheap price but come with some errors. No flipped plate descriptions like in previous volumes but the arms carried, particularly by the Imperial French troops are entirely wrong. The uniforms are great but they are shown carrying flintlocks rather then Chassepot or Tabatiere breechloaders. Same with the Zulu War era Boers show carrying 2nd Boer War era Mausers. The American Civil War, German, British and Italian sections don't seem to have these errors. Still a great book for the price as another has reviewed the cost of this book alone is less then the Osprey titles needed to cover one era, nation or war covered in this book.

I just got this and am completely blown away. What would have cost me a fortune in Osprey titles is nicely put together in one volume. I use it for my amateur toy soldier modeling, and there are more than enough great images to inspire years of projects ahead. I'm sure with any particular era there are a nearly infinite variety of uniform possibilities, but this is a good place to start for 19th Century reference. Now I can't wait to get that WW I volume next...

Technical glitches aside, this is one of the most stunning books of uniforms. Granted there are some errors. It only covers the latter half of the 19th century, desptie the title. The French troops of 1870 - 71 are depicted with muzzle loaders instead of Chassepots. And on page 234, the text description for the Bengal lancer was swapped with that of the American Artillery officer. That is why I give it four stars instead of five.

The book is a handy reference, but not a comprehensive one. Most of its coverage is devoted to the American Civil War, Crimean War and the Franco-Austrian - Prussian wars of 1859 - 1871. Other conflicts get less coverage, but they are included, nonetheless. The artwork alone is enough to recommend this book. For those who enjoy 19th century military history, a great addition, even if flawed. Get while the getting is good.

Another one in a great series of Military Uniform books. This book has the same high quality as the others in this series.

its odd that such historians would allow the french army in 1870 to be armed with muzzle loaders and not chasspot breechloaders and boers in the early 1880s to be armed with later model mausers. whats up with this?