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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Iron Time, My Views., May 10, 2001
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!
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by Dietrich Maerz
by David Miller
by Christopher Ailsby
by Otto Carius
