Customer Reviews

The Iron Time: A History of the Iron Cross

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

 

 

The delivery for this book, seemed to take forever, but it was well worth it! If you have an interest in the complete history of the Iron Cross, then this is a fantastic book with a wealth of research covering the entire life span of this decoration. I know there are a few other publications which also specialise on the Iron Cross, but I have not yet been fortunate to obtain these, so one cannot provide a fair comparison!

However, what makes this book special, for me, is the inclusion of many clear, and detailed, photographs of the rarer awards, such as the Oakleaves, Swords and Diamonds, Grand Cross, German Cross in Gold with Diamonds, etc., which are a must for those of us who have never before seen quality photographs of these, let alone viewed them in the flesh.

The reason I could not give the book 5 stars is due to the number of reproductions I spotted. Firstly, let me stress than I am NOT an expert, but a collector and like all good collectors, I research a piece before making a purchase. My research has highlighted many fakes which are currently on the market, and I was disappointed to find some of these in this book. Given that, in some of these cases, the recipients insist these are their original awards, it would be impolite of the author to say otherwise, but I feel that comments should have been included to say these do not confirm to known originals. One has to remember that these books are a constant source of reference to the collector and as such these need to be perfect! In fairness, the perfect reference book has not yet been written which covers these awards, or has it? What if this is as good as it gets?

Personally, I would like to have seen more variations on construction methods on the 1st Class from the 1914/1939 period but one has to respect that this is a research on the history of the Iron Cross and not a catalogue of variations.

In summary, a very fine book, just let down slightly by a few dubious pieces!

An excellent reference source for this well-known award, full of interesting text and wonderful photographs. The photos alone are worth the high-end retail price. This work is not just for the medal collector, but for anyone with an interest in history.

This is the most compete book I ever had about the german Iron cross. It is fully illustrated with a lot of details. It will helps a lot those who begin a medal collection. The other book about the same subject are often uncomplete and poor illustrated. It is a plus for a good military collection.

This is one of those books that you cannot put down once you open it up and begin to read.
It traces the history of the Iron Cross from its humble beginings in 1800 through to its well known periods of the First and Second World Wars, to its final metamorphis in 1957.
The book is huge over 530 pages long and is packed with excellent photographs of all the awards including closeup shots of makers marks and construction.
It has very rare awards illustrated in great colour photos of the Third Reich era medals such as, the Golden/Diamonds/swords and knights Cross with swords etc, It also covers such awards as the German Cross and Honor roll clasps to name a few.
One very interesting aspect is the fantastic pictures of award documents and award cases which went with the medals.
At the rear of the book is a number of interviews from holders of the Higher grades of the Knights cross which I found to be of great interest.
The Iron/Knights Cross is probably one of the more recognizable symbols of the german armed forces throughout its wars, and even today examples command huge sums of money on the open market.
This book is a very valuable tool if you are a collector for it shows the makers marks, construction, and symbols to help identify the fakes from the real ones with great photos.
The authour has obviously scoured the world to find the last remaining peices and to document them in full colour and no effort seems to have been spared.
This is a superb offering and is highly recommended

The best there is Bravo!
Best book I have found bar none! If you are anykind of collector of German medals or militaria this is a must have!