British Army Cap Badges of the Twentieth Century (Crowood Collectors' Series) Hardcover – 22 Oct. 2007

Well worth having.

verey good book with lots of interesting detail and information about badges and the units they come from.very informative little book

jolly good read

Thanks excellent reading

Excellent

great

Beautiful illustrated cover and fairly well illustrated throughout. It is good to see particularly of posters and photos I had not seen before.I find in a lot of military books we end up seeing the same old photos as the picture researchers have not been as proactive as they should.Like the other reviewer I wasn't sure why the books strayed off to collar badges and cloth insignia. It might not have been his fault but they publisher might have insisted on the cap badge title of the book. It should be called British army military badge collecting.A fascinating read and a treat for the military badge enthusiast. When I started in the 1960s there did not seem to be any books about badge collecting. I wish I had this one when I started. I could have picked up all the best specimens for very little. Now like all hobbies it is much more expensive and almost impossible to tell the genuine from the reproductions or fakes.If you look on E bay there are hundreds of badges for sale of organisations like the Long Range Desert Group or Popski's Private Army for £4.99. How can they possibly be genuine? How many people were in these organisations? Even the current Royal Regiment of Scotland cap badge is being sold for £30 on e bay,On page 38 the author claims because of the War on terror that brand new badges are sought after because of the new strict regulations preventing official emblems of British security forces falling into the wrong hands there is a limited supply. I have difficulty believing that. They seem to be freely available on e bay.A great book to add to your collection

British Army Cap Badges of the Twentieth Century (Crowood Collectors' Series)  It is said never judge a book by its cover, and that is my advice for this book. Although a high quality publication it fails to deliver the 'goods' as promised by the title. The book fails deliver a concise reference work on the 1000's of British Army cap badges that were produced during the 20th century, instead it wanders from topic to topic offering opinion on badge collecting from the perspective of one dealer who is mentioned not only in text but in several photographs. Chapters cover:- 1 Military Badges: A brief history; 2 Badge Collecting:Where to start; 3 Badge Collecting: The Evolution of the British Army Cap Badge in the Twentieth Century; 4 Putting It All Together: Shoulder Titles, Collar Badges and Cloth Insignia; 5 The Genuine Article: Original or Repro; 6 Caring For Your Collection: Conservation and Display & 7 Buying and Selling: Online, Military Fairs & Auctions. If you consider the books title and compare with the chapters you will see the overall makeup of this book has little to do with the title and more to do with providing background information and advice for the 'amateur/novice' collector. Where 'collar badges' and 'cloth insignia' fit into a book that is supposed to deal with 20th century British Army cap badges is beyond me. I would describe this book as a 'coffee table' book for the novice or vaguely interested party, and although there is some valuable information about some cap badges the cost of the book is not justified and its title somewhat misleading!