In the pre-internet days uniform information was at a premium and could be hard to find. Articles in magazines such as Military Modelling, Almark Modelworld, and Airfix Magazine helped, as did a small number of well-thumbed and loved books.
One very important resource was the series of books published by Blandford Press, typically with 100+ colour plates in the middle of the books, bracketed by introductions and text notes. The quality of the artwork could vary from book to book, but included artists such as Carman, Cassin-Scott and McGregor. The archetypal book for me is the Preben Kannik Military Uniforms of the World in Colour.
As well as books on uniforms, there were volumes covering badges and insignia, military flags, tanks and AFVs. Other subjects included ships and aircraft.
This format comprised the Blandford Colour Series. The original editions were small hardbacks; there were later, slightly larger paperbacks. I have provided a list below - this is not supposed to be comprehensive, but I've included the titles I think might be of the greatest interest, along with those I happen to have. The illustrated covers are a random selection from my bookshelf.
Blandford Colour Series
Warriors & Weapons 3000BC-1700AD, N Saxtorph
Medieval Military Dress 1066-1500, C Rothero
Military Uniforms of the World, , Preben Kannik & W>Y Carman
Infantry Uniforms of Britain & the Commonwealth 1742-1855, R & C Wilkinson-Latham
Cavalry Uniforms of Britain & the Commonwealth 1742-1953, R & C Wilkinson-Latham
Uniforms of the Seven Year War 1756-63, J Mollo & M McGregor
Uniforms of the American Revolution, J Mollo & M McGregor
Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars 1796-1814, J Cassin-Scott
Uniforms of the Peninsular War 1807-14, P Haythornwaite & M Chappell
Uniforms of the Retreat from Moscow, P Haythornwaite & M Chappell
Uniforms of the Battle of Waterloo, P Haythornwaite, J Cassin-Scott, & M Chappell
World Uniforms & Battles 1815-50, P Haythornwaite & M Chappell
Infantry Uniforms of Britain & the Commonwealth 2 1855-1939, R & C Wilkinson-Latham
Uniforms of the American Civil War, P Haythornwaite & M Chappell
Army Uniforms of World War 1, A Mollo & P Turner
German Uniforms of the Third Reich 1933-45, B.L. Davis & P Turner
World Army Uniforms since 1939, A Mollo & D Smith
Army Uniforms of World War 2, A Mollo & P Turner
Naval, Marine & Air Force Uniforms of World War 2, A Mollo & M McGregor
Army Uniforms since 1945, D Smith & M Chappell
Military Flags of the World 1618-1900, T Wise & G Rosignoli
Tanks and other Armoured Fighting Vehicles 1900-1918, B.T. White
Military Transport of World War 1, C. Ellis and D. Bishop
Artillery in Colour 1920-63, I Hogg
Tanks and other AFVs of the Blitzkrieg Era 1939-41, B.T. White
Tanks and other AFVs 1942-45, B.T. White
Military Transport of World War 2, C. Ellis and D. Bishop
Tanks and other tracked vehicles in service, B.T. White
Horse-Drawn Vehicles since 1760, Arthur Ingram
To follow: Almarks, and Rene North
9 comments:
These are lovely books - I buy them whenever they appear at a reasonable (ie-cheap!) price.
Saxetorph & Kannick went with me to Military College and kept me almost sane. They still do. The Wilkinson-Latham books are still my best sources for some obscure bits of British uniforms, esp between major wars.
Stilll use them today. Uniforms of the Battle of Waterloo is my oldest surviving book and I go back to all the time. Currently using it to paint some Dutch militia.
Some of my favorites on there, starting with Preban Kannik.
I have them all except the tankie books. My Uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars still has light blue enamel splashes on the Prussian landwehr plate from when I painted my first Hinchliffe Landwehr (PN14) in 1973...
Saxtorph shows its age, just like the 1st Funcken (many illustrations seem to share similar, late 19th C. sources). But invaluable for the nostalgia value!
Kannick still valuable and inspirational.
The SYW Mollo shows odd colors, specially the blues -a printing problem?
Their Uniforms of Waterloo is one of my all time favourites. Great series of books. I have used them constantly since I started buying them in the 1970s.
The list looks to have missed "Uniforms of the Imperial Russian Army" by Jon & Boris Mollo, published in 1979.
I have some of the "cigarette cards" (or maybe they are sweet cards) from which the Kannik was compiled, the illustration is identical and is, pretty much, the text. Kannik was Curator of the Danish Army Museum and his book is still a superb study after 50 years !
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