Boy this guy is slipping! This is one of the reviews by people who bought Ralph's book from Amazon.com. You don't collect Lugers and call Ralph Shattuck's book a book for quote "Loonies". This guy won't go far talking about Ralph Shattuck like that!!!
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,Brandon
Lugers of Ralph Shattuck, October 11, 2001
Reviewer: A reader from Surrey United Kingdom
Review of â??The Lugers of Ralph Shattuckâ? by Rocky
My first impression of this book is SMALL. 71/4 x 5 x 3/8 inch (185 x 130 x 10 mm) with only 48 pages. At ... it is an expensive book.
Then I wonder why it was published at all. It is not a large format, glossy book of exquisite photographs of rare and beautiful Lugers. Nor is it only pictures of Lugers from the collection of Ralph Shattuck; several examples are from other collections.
The photographs have been scanned with a poor resolution scanner, on page 10 it is almost impossible to make out the chamber markings on a Portugese Navy contract Luger.
He does introduce the concept of Lugers as historical artefacts rather than merely collectable metal. Describing some of the battles where Lugers have been used and famous previous owners. This is a good thing, many pistols have been separated from their provenance and anything that encourages collectors to research their collections must enhance our knowledge, this is especially important in the UK where famous association is one reason to be allowed to collect Lugers.
This book is not for the beginner, only Luger completeists or book loonies (guilty) should buy it. If you are interested in Lugers there are much better titles, with more information.
Rating 4/10