Uniforms

They’re on the shoulder of all military personnel: patches that symbolize what their unit does. But what if that’s top secret?

“A fresh approach to secret government. It shows that these secret programs have their own culture, vocabulary and even sense of humor.”
—Steven Aftergood, The Federation of American Scientists

In a work that combines ingenious journalism and bizarrely encoded art, author/photographer/investigator Trevor Paglen uncovers sixty never-before-seen-in-public military patches that reveal a bizarre secret world of the American military. Paglen investigates classified weapons projects and intelligence operations by examining their own imagery and jargon, disclosing new facts about important classified military units—here known by peculiar names (“Goat Suckers,” “None of Your Fucking Business,” “Tastes Like Chicken”) and illustrated with occult symbols and ridiculous cartoons. The precisely photographed patches—worn by military personnel working on classified missions, such as those at the legendary Area 51—reveal much about a strange and eerie world about which little was previously known.

The author has also assembled an extensive and readable guide, based on extensive interviews with military sources and government records, to the patches included here, making this volume perhaps the best available survey of the military's black world—a $27 billion industry that has quietly grown by almost 50 percent since 9/11.

The official history of Colt firearms from 1836 to the present

New, 5th Edition, revised and expanded with new serial number information, parts descriptions, and photos.

The M1 Garand was the battle rifle issued to American forces during World War II and the Korean War. It was the first semiautomatic rifle design to be used by combat forces in any army of the world. It was standardized in 1936 and saw its first combat in the Philippines in December 1941. Few other rifles have developed such a distinguished record as both a battle rifle and a match target rifle. General George Patton called the M1 Garand "the greatest battle implement ever devised." The semiautomatic M1 Garand gave the American soldier a distinct firepower advantage over enemy soldiers armed with bolt action rifles that had to be cocked before each shot. During World War II, nearly four million M1 Garands were built at the Springfield National Armory and Winchester Repeating Firearms factories. They were issued in every theater of the war. And hundreds of thousands were issued to French, Belgian, Greek, Italian and Philippine allies as well. During the Cold War years until the early 1960s, he M1 Garand was the mainstay of our small arms support programs to allied and friendly nations. In the last days of World War II, special variations of the M1 Garand, designated the M1C were developed and produced as sniper rifles. More were built during and after the! Korean War as the M1D. Also, during the Korean War, the M1 Garand was put back into production at Springfield, and in the factories of two private concerns, bringing the total production to almost 6,000,000. Hundreds of thousands of M1 Garands were issued to soldiers of the Army of the Republic of South Vietnam. Thousands of M1 Garands were manufactured in the 1950s as Match Target rifles and these are also eagerly sought by collectors.

After Congress approved the reimportation of certain military rifles for collecting purposes in 1986, it is estimated that nearly half a million of the 1.5 to 2 million M1 Garands shipped overseas to allied and friendly nations were allowed to be reimported. Collector's snapped them up eagerly and began to restore them to original condition. But the M1 Garand had undergone a such continuous process of improvement and upgrading that by the end of production in 1955, hardly a single part remained as it had originally been designed.

The collector attempting to restore an M1 Garand to original, as-manufactured condition must first determine when his rifle was manufactured, then which part or parts need replacing. Keep in mind that there were four different manufacturers of the rifle, all of whom also made spare parts.

Fortunately, every part of the M1 Garand carries at least one clue to its manufacturer and the date when it was made. Every major part was stamped with a "part number" and these part numbers were changed every time the part was redesigned for improvement. Other clues are the type and color of finish, specific machine tool marks, factory codes and so on, all translated in "The M1 Garand: 1936 to 1957." With this book in hand, the collector will find it easy to examine his or her rifle and determine which parts must be replaced to return it to its original state. The book also explains how to determine if replacement parts are correct and if they are of original manufacture or are so-called "after-market" parts of non-military origin.

The book also describes and tells how to identify the real sniper versions of the M1 Garand, also the match target versions. It also tells how to determine which rifles were sent to various armies overseas.

This book covers the organization, tactics, weapons, equipment, orders of battle, and uniforms of official and unofficial units, from early raiding parties to formal assault battalions. Rare photos depict badges and insignia not previously known, while primary documents describing regulations and training are provided in their entirety. New information on the origin of shock tactics is presented, gleaned from German archives and not previously published in English. Specific operations on all fronts are included, along with extracts from German army manuals for shock-troop arms such as flamethrowers, mortars, machine guns, grenade launchers, assault artillery, and tanks.

A perennially popular topic the ancient world continues to yield incredibly rich archaeological finds. Based on years of detailed research, Dr Raffaele D'Amato now presents a new history on the dress and equipment of Roman Centurions from the Roman kingdom to the height of the Republic. In addition, thanks to his detailed research amongst Roman gravestones, the book also includes several reconstructions of actual named individuals and two lavish scenes showing combat between two Centurions and a Triumphal procession.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

This book brings a highly eventful period of European history to life, chrinicling the battles, campaigns and skirmishes of the conflict and the political triumphs and declines of the combatant forces.

Bruno Alberti and Laurent Pradier have been collecting and writing about U S Marine Corps gear for more than a decade and, in that time, have contributed complete series of articles on the topic in the French Militaria Magazine. That sequence of articles is complete and the time has now come for a revised and expanded version of the results of their work as a single bound volume.

The US Marine Corps has always enjoyed a special status among the American Armed Forces, as well as boasting distinctive uniforms and emblems.

This new book presents the large variety of dress uniforms for both officers and enlisted men, as well as combat uniforms and specialty camouflage garments.

Hundreds of items of clothing, equipment and insignia are illustrated by reenactment photos of the famous 'leathernecks' in the form of large format color plates. Many period photos found in official American archives are also reproduced and help place the reenactment shots in the correct historical context.

This new volume maintains the usual exceptional quality standards of Histoire and Collections: carefully-researched historical background, hundreds of concisely captioned color photographs of authentic artifacts and reenactment photographs taken in studio conditions to allow the reader to see the uniforms and equipment in the greatest clarity.

REVIEWS

"lavishly illustrated study of US Marine Corps uniforms and individual equipment...sumptous photography...Hundreds of crisp, high quality color photos..."Military Trader.Com, 8/07

This is spectacular new book from Europe's leading uniform and equipment publisher will follow in the footsteps as such classics from the past as From Doughboy to GI.

Histoire and Collections has earned a reputation for producing the finest, incredibly detailed and sumptuously illustrated books. Their technique reaches a new level with this latest book.

All the uniforms, insignia, badges, weapons and equipment of the ETO are described in detail and depicted in both photographs and full color graphics.

This book is a must for any collector in the field.

REVIEWS

"This book must rate a perfect "10" for your reference library...the heavyweight champion of reference books for anyone interested in modeling the World War II G.I.'s and their equipment... one resource book that can just about do it all...This treasure book even concludes with a selection of some trophies "liberated" from the other side. If you can only buy one book for your WWII G.I. references, buy Government Issue and see where the term "G.I." came from. Thank you, Mr. Enjames."Historica Formus 3/05