Complete M1 Garand

Rating:
Summary: Necessary Part of You Library
Review: "Garanditus" is a dreadful malady, contracted by the unsuspecting interested in either shooting or World War II collecting. The consequences are terrible: drained financial resources, incessant internet searches for M1s, parts, and attendant paraphernalia. You find yourself attending meetings, standing, and reciting the familiar phrase, "Hello, my name is B--- and I am a Garandoholic."

Along the way, to really appreciate this hobby (whether shooting or collecting), it is required that you build up a library and along side of Duff, Canfield, and the others are the books by Jim Thompson. None of the books written by *any* authors, by themselves, will provide a complete and total compendium of knowledge about Mr. J. C. Garand's wonderful rifle. All of them do provide essential information, making the practitioner more appreciative of the M1.

Some of the other reviewers have objected to Mr. Thompson's rants about gang bangers, the criminal element, gun confiscation, Arizona local government, etc. a bit tiresome. I do not share that view. On the contrary, I found Mr. Duff's books to be chocked full of facts and history, but a bit dry and too much a relation of the history of the Springfield armory. Consequently, Mr. Thompson's opinions provided interesting counterpoint. I value *both* the books that I have by Duff and Thompson as valuable components in a necessary reference library.

To be sure, Mr. Thompson does provide a great deal of his personal knowledge to his works and does so in a very literate manner. I mean, a gun book whose author uses the words "calumny" and "denouement"?

The only reason I gave it a 4 is because I wish it were longer.

Rating:
Summary: Necessary Part of You Library
Review: "Garanditus" is a dreadful malady, contracted by the unsuspecting interested in either shooting or World War II collecting. The consequences are terrible: drained financial resources, incessant internet searches for M1s, parts, and attendant paraphernalia. You find yourself attending meetings, standing, and reciting the familiar phrase, "Hello, my name is B--- and I am a Garandoholic."

Along the way, to really appreciate this hobby (whether shooting or collecting), it is required that you build up a library and along side of Duff, Canfield, and the others are the books by Jim Thompson. None of the books written by *any* authors, by themselves, will provide a complete and total compendium of knowledge about Mr. J. C. Garand's wonderful rifle. All of them do provide essential information, making the practitioner more appreciative of the M1.

Some of the other reviewers have objected to Mr. Thompson's rants about gang bangers, the criminal element, gun confiscation, Arizona local government, etc. a bit tiresome. I do not share that view. On the contrary, I found Mr. Duff's books to be chocked full of facts and history, but a bit dry and too much a relation of the history of the Springfield armory. Consequently, Mr. Thompson's opinions provided interesting counterpoint. I value *both* the books that I have by Duff and Thompson as valuable components in a necessary reference library.

To be sure, Mr. Thompson does provide a great deal of his personal knowledge to his works and does so in a very literate manner. I mean, a gun book whose author uses the words "calumny" and "denouement"?

The only reason I gave it a 4 is because I wish it were longer.

Rating:
Summary: Classic guns, written a classic style.
Review: From the introductory pages, through to the list of resources, "The Classic M1 Garand" held my complete interest. Beginning with Jim Thompson's moving dedication to his friend, this book is written straight from the heart.
As a newcomer to the world of classic rifles and firearms,a female neophyte, I was happily surprised that the information within was compiled in an efficient way. The descriptions of various types of guns and their proper care and preservation, is explained in finite detail. Mr. Thompson leaves no stone unturned covering the past 60or so years in the life of this beautiful treasure. The accompanying photographs of the author field testing his rifles, and photos of various guns and accessories are well described and captioned.
War (and Peace) stories are spun through tbe context of the book.I love Jim Thompson's personalized style of writing, I seemed to flow with him from one chapter to the next eager to learn more. Definately an excellent choice for the gun collector and the merely curious as well. I highly recommend it. Thank You.

Rating:
Summary: Entirely Adequate
Review: The COMPLETE M1 GARAND does an effective job of guiding the reader through identification and recognition of it's idiosincracies relative to each particular contractor. The presentation, while dry, is certainly adequate for the novice owner or collector. An interesting feature is the use of an older field manual, (from Baretta), and a match conditioning manual, both copied verbatim. The majority of Thompson's contribution is information about various contractors, the variations in these models, timelines, and common pitfalls of M1 ownership. Photography is fair, but appears to be photocopies of original photographs; blurred, slightly fuzzy, and dark. Very difficult to see detail. The captions are not of much help, although with the more blatent examples, they are entirely adequate. To put a review into two words...entirely adequate.

Rating:
Summary: Complete?
Review: Thompson's M1 work is not complete without his latest book, THE CLASSIC M1 GARAND... But the two are a formidable and exciting package. His insightful handling of issues and clever debunking of a lot of widely-held bogus conspiracy theories is as sharp as his examination of the anti-gun lobby, and his new tome gives some insight into what the man is about. He also sheds some light on peripheral but all-important American issues, which seem to totally elude most firearms writers. The first three chapters are particularly enlightening... His new "Great Guns" books, out about 2002-2003, promise to be entertaining and enlightening, just like these two missives. Thompson explores threads others can't even find, and presents rather dry technical material--essential to his kind of work--in a manner which can make even the clumsiest oaf laugh from time to time.