Building a Military Book Collection

Building a military book collection is a lot of fun!

A good collection should contain at least the following categories:

1. Reference books
2. Primary sources - ie. autobiographies
3. Secondary sources - ie. well-written analysis of primary source documents

1. REFERENCE BOOKS

Every collection should start with a solid set of reference books eg. a military atlas, reference book on tanks or weapons. These books will help you understand the primary and secondary source books when they make references to battlefield locations or weapons.

2. PRIMARY SOURCES

Primary sources are original documents created by the combatants, either during the historical period or after. Examples of this are German Tiger tank manuals, pilot's manuals and autobiographies. These are extremely interesting and wonderful to have because they give you the best taste of what it must have been like during the battles from eyewitnesses or key players eg. Field Marshal von Manstein's "Lost Victories" or RAF pilot Guy Gibson's "Enemy Coast Ahead". However, most such authors will be biased towards putting their actions in the most favourable light and will not provide you with a balanced perspective. One way to counter this is to read primary source texts from both sides of the same battle and to read different eyewitness accounts from one side to see where they all seem to agree. This agreement will likely be "the truth" of what actually happened.

3. SECONDARY SOURCES

Secondary sources are usually written by military historians who provide a post-war analysis of the battles or personalities in question eg. Mark Zuehlke's "Gothic Line" or a biography of Field Marshal Montgomery. These books are usually written by military experts and give very good broad and detailed perspective of a battle or personality and tend to be much less biased than authors of primary source texts. However, everyone is vulnerable to bias and books written by US military historians would likely generate a favourable opinion of US conduct of the war.

As you start to look for books to add to your collection, bear the following in mind:

Area of Interest

What is your area of interest? German Panzer units? SS troops? Special forces? US forces? Modern armies? Think of what books have interested you the most over the years and you will quickly realize what is your area of interest. This can be the initial focus of your collection. This does not mean that you should limit your collection only to this area; it just means that most of your books would likely be for that particular area. I think most book collections will have a core focus with other supplemental books for areas in which the collectors have a minor interest eg. an avid Panzer collector may also have a few books about the RAF or U-boat campaigns.

Quality, not Quantity

You can build a high quality military book collection with a few well-chosen books; it is the quality of the collection that matters more than the quantity. It is easy enough to rapidly build a large collection as there are countless military history books, new and used. It is a little more difficult to hunt down and buy only the books that offer a unique or accurate perspective of a battle or military personality.

Softcover or Hardcover or other Media Formats

If you can afford it, buy the hardcover editions as they a) are usually first editions, b) are more elaborate editions with lots more photos or illustrations and c) will last a lot longer. However, if you have a limited budget, buy the cheaper soft cover editions. With the money you save, you can buy more books for your collection. Still, I would recommend that you buy at least a handful of large format, oversized hardcover editions of books in your area of interest eg. JJF's "Jochen Peiper" or RZM's "Platz Der Liebstandarte" are marvellous examples of incredibly collectible books, filled with hundreds of large photos. These books will really give your collection character and you will have a few books you treasure more than the others.

You should also consider buying CD MP3 versions of some books either to supplement your hard copy or as a stand-alone. These editions are wonderful to listen to during your long work commute if you can't find much time for leisure reading. The voice narrators are usually very, very good and you can listen to an entire book a lot quicker than reading it yourself. An excellent example of this is "The Hitler Book" in MP3 format.

You should also consider filling out your collection with documentary and movie DVD's which cover your areas of interest. DVD's add a fun element to your military history collection and present information difficult to convey in books eg. gun camera footage. Popular DVD's are the classic Battle of Arnhem movie "A Bridge Too Far" and the fabulous documentary "World At War".

Happy to Help!

This is a brief overview of some essential things to consider when building your military book collection and is by no means exhaustive of all possible ideas. These ideas were drawn from my own experience of building my own military book collection. I would be thrilled to help you build your collection by answering any questions you may have, making book recommendations to you or helping you find the books you want.

Combat Films and Books is run by me, someone who enjoys reading military history and can give you some informed assistance with finding the books you want or giving you an opinion about other books, unlike larger booksellers whose staff haven't the foggiest idea about the military books they sell.

Feel free to browse my Ebay Store for books, check back regularly to see our new additions and sign up for our email list!

Colin
Combat Films and Books

At the Start Line

Hi everyone!

I'm a huge military history enthusiast with an Ebay store selling awesome military books and DVD's:

Combat Films and Books

I love reading and discussing about military history and thought that I would set up a blog to give me a forum for my pastime.

Over the coming weeks, I shall be sharing my thoughts about all things military.

If you're a military enthusiast, too, I hope that you'll drop in and have a chat with me and comment on my posts!

Ok, I'm at the Start Line now and must mount up my tank to ride into the battle field. See you out there, boys!

Colin