Today’s Gus’ Gear is another book report. There are a lot of great books available to collectors and historians now and today I would like to call attention to new volumes published by Johan Somers. The bulk of the books cover Imperial German artifacts. The series is titled ” A Photographic Journey of Uniforms and Equipment Through the 20th Century.”
Volume 7 covers German Infantry Pickelhauben and Überzüge with hundreds of examples photographed with the collaboration of a multitude of collectors.
Volume 8 covers Imperial German headgear worn by cavalry and specilized troops as well as Mützen and Schirmmützen. Hundreds of examples are photographed along with markings and closeups of features, making these a great resource for a beginning collector to understand what an original example should look like, and for advanced collectors to find something else that might require the sale of that last kidney to get that item that you did not know exsisted.
Volume 9 covers German uniform items such as tunics, trousers and overcoats with excellent photos and descriptions.
Recently, a member of this group asked about a type of hand grenade that is rare enough that I had never seen an example. Not only was there a good discription of the rare grenade, there were photographs of a surviving example.
The next 4 volumes will not be reviewed here as they are focused on post WW1 topics, but they will be followed by volumes covering Allied and US uniforms and equipment during WW1.
These are being published with a limit of 300 copies available, and if you are interested in getting on the list, you can contact Johan on facebook via his page Johan Mil.