Campaign 1914, Chris Pollendine

[hatch_five]

Well it finally arrived today and I can say this is one book worth waiting for. I've only had a quick flick through but straight off the photography comes across as superb and the paper quality is top notch. The selection of items included is very comprehensive, with unusual items like variations in mess tin covers, private purchase officers kit and kitchener's army uniforms included. The accompanying text, at first glance, seems of an equally high quality and I am looking forward to reading it in depth this weekend. I can't recommend this enough and I'm looking forward to the next 4 volumes!

[wainfleet]

Anyone else seen it yet?

[Jerry B]

I have it, came last week and it certainly is a very good book. I am no expert on WWI items so much of it I have to take on faith as being accurate.

For me, it would have been more useful if it had been divided by volume into the separate subjects rather than by separate subjects within a volume for each year. A book on headgear, another on tunics etc would have suited me better, but that is just my personal preference and would have suited easier searching of a particular area of interest, though if they had published it that way I might only have bought one or two of the volumes, while in this format I might have to buy all of them.

[Staffsyeoman]

Jerry, I think your last sentence answers its own question.. I am not implying any cynical motive on behalf of the publishers (or author) and the copy I briefly glanced at shows the book to be an excellent production. But yes, theme rather than chronology might have helped those on tighter budgets.

[Grovetown]

Theme rather than chronology might have helped those on tighter budgets.

I sort of sympathise, yet then I'm not sure that would be that practical or low budget. For instance, the whole book is only eight pages longer than Mike Haselgrove and Branislav Radovic's chapter on British helmets in vol. 2 of their masterwork. And that's £59.

If this series - at £40 for the first vol - went into as much depth as Mike and Branislav on jackets, boots, equipment and so on and so forth in separate books; I think you'd be looking at a much, much bigger bill than the £200 it extrapolates out to so far.

For other value comparison, John Bodsworth's book trying to tackle the same - variously much flawed and a great success in turns - is £66, and the production values were terrible. It's also supposed to be followed by at least one other volume - so you'd be into £132 for something produced on a photocopier and bound using a Pritt stick. This book is very well put together, if nothing else, and you can see where the difference lies.

I actually rather like the logic of the current approach... And you get a year to save up in between!

Cheers,

GT.

[Jerry B]

Jerry, I think your last sentence answers its own question.. I am not implying any cynical motive on behalf of the publishers (or author) and the copy I briefly glanced at shows the book to be an excellent production. But yes, theme rather than chronology might have helped those on tighter budgets.

Indeed Phil

it was great to see pictures of items I don't see often, but as a collector, I would have liked a volume on headgear and another on tunics and would happily have passed on the rest. I have Tommy's war which gives a good overview of many of the other items, ephemera etc and I have many books on badges, much of the other stuff covered whilst great to see it, it is not my main interest. Mind you, much that I would like to collect is already beyond my pocket, so perhaps some of the "lesser" items shown might be the things I end up buying, though a good detailed study of headgear in particular would really have been welcomed.

Whether it was done this way for financial reasons is not something I wish to comment on and for many the format probably works really well, just for me another way would have suited my purposes and pocket better.

Still a very good book and I might well have to buy them all.

[P.B.]

Hello Gents

I think the year-by-year approach is intended to follow the same publisher's companion "Feldzug" series on the Imperial German Army, the aim being to link the material culture of the war to it's course and the developments in weapons and equipment that occurred.

It's perhaps less obvious with the British uniforms and kit (the German soldier's appearance changed considerably during the Great War, where -in general- the British soldier acquired additional items in the form of gas protection, steel helmets, battle insignia on tunics, etc whilst the basic uniforms and equipment remained little changed) but for my money this looks like the start of a superb and well produced series.

All the best

Paul