German Combat Equipment 1939-45 (Men at Arms Series, 234)

Rating:
Summary: Great reference
Review: I am a collector of GI Joe's and other 12" Military figures and I have to say that this book is a great reference. The color drawings give the position of where most German soldiers put their gear on their harness'. I recommend it to all.

Rating:
Summary: Great reference
Review: I am a collector of GI Joe's and other 12" Military figures and I have to say that this book is a great reference. The color drawings give the position of where most German soldiers put their gear on their harness'. I recommend it to all.

Rating:
Summary: Splendid Volume
Review: This is an excellent beginner volume that covers all the basics, and in great detail. Perfect for modellers, re-enactors, or those weirdo adults who play with 12 inch dolls. Clear diagrams and pictures, and informed text captions. There is greater detail in the SOLDAT series by Cyrus Lee, and of course this doesn't compare to the now out of print work by Jack Angolia. But most people won't need all that. All the bases are covered with this one - very useful, and at a great price.

Rating:
Summary: Splendid Volume
Review: This is an excellent beginner volume that covers all the basics, and in great detail. Perfect for modellers, re-enactors, or those weirdo adults who play with 12 inch dolls. Clear diagrams and pictures, and informed text captions. There is greater detail in the SOLDAT series by Cyrus Lee, and of course this doesn't compare to the now out of print work by Jack Angolia. But most people won't need all that. All the bases are covered with this one - very useful, and at a great price.

Rating:
Summary: Totally Inadequate
Review: When there are multi volume sets on this same subject, covering only one or two years at a time, how can this be useful? The French magazine Militaria runs multiple page articles on individual items of equipment. And I am sure there are others. But I am sure the illustrations are well done. Volstad does excellent work.

Rating:
Summary: Very good introduction
Review: While you won't be able to assemble a set of full gear using this as a reference, this is an unbelievably good primer on the basics of German field equipment. Covers all basic items of kit very well, and gives dates of introduction, common colour shades, and extent of issue (ie to whom the items were issued and for what purposes).

Illustrations and colour plates top notch - clear and well laid out, rich with detail. Photos very good also, many unpublished ones, and of a uniformly high quality. Equipment and artifact photos a little poorly done, obviously taken outside in bright sunlight, making for harsh shadows and poor detail.

Overall, possibly the best basic guide out there, certainly for the money. Next step up would be Lee's SOLDAT series, which is more of an investment and lacks the clarity of Volstad's colour plates, but goes into more detail from a collector's point of view regarding variants and how to tell fakes from real items.