Jan Still Central Powers book
 

In a couple of weeks I will try to convice DG to do a review of this book, meanwhile here is my abbreviated one ;)


I was excitedly waiting for my look at this new book and know others will be forced to wait probably another month and a half, but wow, what a nice book.


Central Powers Pistols:
http://luger.gunboards.com/uploaded/...6_IMG_3232.JPG


I travel a lot and when I was out on an extended contract job in Philly I took Imperial Lugers, Weimar Lugers and Third Reich Lugers. I find that I refer to them about in that order; I primarily collect Weimar era, but many Weimar era guns came from the Imperial era; but this new book Central Powers Pistols is liable to trump those first two for usage.

Chalk full of information, and probably 95% color full page pictures, it is an impressive and fact filled book (464 pages). The margins are set very small, what this means is that Jan was probably able to get another 50 pages of text and photos by having very small margins for each and every page. Filled with facts, Jan has separated it into types of pistols and years (in that order). As an example; like he did with Imperial Lugers and his others, he first lists the lugers by year; i.e. 1910 DWM / giving facts and figures for an easy glance, but then via technology and diligent research with many shared collectors and their guns, he has examples of each year (sometimes 1 entire page of pictures of an pistol, sometimes several rigs for the same year on separate pages).

The book covers military and commercial lugers, Mausers 1896, 1914's, Walther Model 6, model 4, Dreyse 99, Dreyse 1907, FL Selbstlader, Beholla, Menta, Sauer 1913, Roth Sauer, Jaeger, Ortigies, Reichsrevoler (M78 and M83), 1912 Steyr Hahn, 1900, 1903, 1910 Brownings, 1908 Bayard, 1910 Bergman Bayard; numerous tables, and this is just up to page 273.

There are approx 90 additional pages on Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire - Turkey, and Finland.

There are five appendices on; US Test Lugers; Luger Frame Types; Receiver Acceptance Stamps; German Army Self Purchase Holsters and a List of Illustrations.

There are 10 Summary Tables and another (approximate) 114 assorted tables that cover everything in the book.

Overall, this is one book that few collectors should be without, covering an entire era of pre-WW1 to the end of WW1 (with many of these same guns carried by military and police well after the Great War)

Ed,
Who's DG?
I can't wait to get one. I've been looking for an Imperial Luger at a decent price for nearly a year. This one should be better.
Mike C.

When I get home after being away for a month I hope to find my copy waiting for me. Given the excellence of Jan's previous volumns, this one promises to be truely outstanding.

P.S...DG is Dwight Gruber, a gentleman with considerable writing skills in his own right.

In addition to the momumental research and effort putting this new book together, Jan has a great section in Appendix D titled as "Hints To Detect Boosted Imperial Military Lugers".

I always thought such a section would have served new collectors better in the books of Keyon, Datig, Reese...as well.

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u.../JansBooks.jpg