Customer Reviews

Uniforms & Equipment of the Imperial German Army 1900-1918: A Study in Period Photographs (Schiffer Military History)

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This is a coffee table book if ever there was one. It's HUGE. That's great for us picture hounds though. The pictures in this volume are fantastic, covering more areas of the Imperial German Army than you probably thought existed. Commentary on the pictures is fairly informative, and often amusing. I would have liked a more thorough detailing of the gear that the various subjects are wearing, and how these things changed over the course of the war. The color insignia plates are also a nice addition, but some explainations in English would have been useful. As a WWI reenactor (I know, odd hobby), I am always looking for new sources for information on German uniforms, and this is a good one. As this might be part of a series, I'd like to see a future volume that actually details specific pieces of personal gear of soldiers.

While this book was VERY informative and contains a large amount of photos reflecting hard work by the author, the title is deceiving when it says 1900-1918. It should say 1900 to 1916. There is ONE picture of a soldier in a Stalhelm, and post 1915 gear. If you are looking for early war photos, this book is for you. However, stay away if you are looking for a detaild description of equipment, especially for the post 1916 years.

This is an outstanding work with priceless photos of mostly prewar scenes. My primary bone to pick are the captions that the author wrote for the artillery section: he misidentified almost all the guns in the photos or failed to make identifications at all. He should have tried to get more expert help in this area, as identification of some of the pieces is not easy as most of them are 1870's - 1880's vintage non-recoil carriage guns. The photos are facinating and amazingly clear; the captions detract from an excellent effort on the whole however.

here is a description from the publisher

Uniforms and Equipment of the Imperial German Army 1900-1918: A Study in Period Photographs, contains over 500 never before published photographic images of Imperial German military subjects. This initial volume, of a continuing study, features formal studio portraits of pre-war dress and wartime uniforms of all arms. It also contains photo postal cards taken in the field of Infantry, Pionier, Telegraph-Signal, Landsturm and Mountain Troops, Vehicles, Artillery, Musicians, the Bavarian Leib Regiment, specialized uniforms and insignia, small arms close-ups, unmotorized transport, group shots and Balloon troops. Also included is a sixty page full-color uniform section reproduced from the rare 1914 plates by Major Arthur Schmidt of Infanterie Regiment Nr. 172, and shows that uniform color was still in evidence, mixed with the somber Feldgrau. Each photo caption has been carefully and completely researched affording the reader information not to be found in any other single source. An introduction to the complex army service commitments, a general uniform description and a selected bibliography make this a must volume for the serious military historian, collector, and World War I re-enactor.