Austrian M58/M75 - new book

[Greg Pickersgill]

Maybe I have missed notification of this elsewhere, but I have just found on Mannie Gentile's rather good helmet blog - Mannie Gentile: Combat Helmets of the 20th Century - a review of a new book of Austrian 58/75 helmets by collector Oli Dorrell, who used to run a couple of rather good webpages that I have lost track of**. Anyway, this is very exciting for me as someone with a specific interest in these, and it looks like a good helmet book anyway (and there aren't as many of those as there should be).

Anyone who remembers the LONG threads in this forum powered essentially by the apparently now-vanished Austromunga may be equally pleased to hear about this book.

Mannie has not (yet?) included any contact details but I found that the book is listed on Amazon Uk (search on 'Austrian M1 steel helmet') but it might be better to buy direct from Oli - if we can find the right contact details. I'll update this if as and when.

**If anyone knows where Oli's webpages are now - assuming they still exist - please post it here. I'm failing to find a clue so far.

[Greg Pickersgill]

Update - I've managed to contact Oli Dorrell, and now know that the book is produced as Print on Demand from Amazon itself. Which is fine, but it means there's no real advantage to Oli in selling copies personally.

I've ordered a copy and there's a bit of a lag in delivery, that's POD for you, I've done this myself (not with Amazon) so I know how it works. Just about a week so nothing terrible.

Search Amazon on 'Austrian M1 steel helmet' or 'Olivier Dorrell'. Support this book, its a good idea, we need more single-topic helmet books. ((I could do one on the Swedish M37...yes no maybe perhaps...)

[Reibert]

Received my copy, (hardcover), today.
Interesting book, indeed.

[Greg Pickersgill]

Well, I got my copy from Amazon on 17th July, but this is my first opportunity to comment.

I am very impressed by this book. It is clearly written, facts properly organised, well laid-out, illustrations actually show what they should, and most importantly it has *lots* of new information for me and I thought I knew quite a lot about these Austrian helmets already (being a collector and determined reader of the long threads on them here, and believe me you needed to be determined to sort the facts out of austromunga's over-excited commentary...). It's a genuine delight, an excellent example of a single-topic helmet book, and could well be seen as a 'how-to', something anyone doing this sort of book should emulate. Very well done. I have the hardback edition, which is a nice product, opens well, easy to read, well printed and bound.

I could detail al the new bits and pieces I've learned but that would be a bit futile and anyway you should just Buy The Book - let's just say the book is worth every penny I spent on it. Excellent piece of work - I'm genuinely impressed and rather wish I had the energy and commitment to do something like that myself. I hope for a satisfying amount of sales - never going to be huge for this sort of book, but I'd certainly urge any Austrian or M1 Euroclone collector to get a copy.

I have done a bit of self-publishing, almost always text-based (quite straightforward) material though one had lots of illustrations and that was a massive pain in some ways, so I do know a bit about the amount of work and effort involved in this book, and I'm impressed by the result! Not keen on the body-text font, but that's just nitpicking.

(Yes, I know there may be errors and omissions - not that I have found any - but while you're pointing them out let me know which helmet books you think are perfect in every detail, I'll be interested to know about them as I haven't found one yet.)

[Reibert]

If I only look at this thread:
Austrian M75
the book should be at least twice as thick so many interesting statements and pictures can be found in this thread alone.

As well as the wealth of information that you can find here in the forum alone in various threads on the subject of Bundesheer helmets.

In any case, the book is highly recommended!

[Greg Pickersgill]

Perfectly good point, Reibert, but there are a few things to consider. There are two or three interesting and extensive threads on this helmet in Warrelics, but there is a degree of disorganisation and I feel that once the repetitions and false trails have been excluded there's less genuinely new and useful information than there first appears to be. There's also an element of 'show and tell' (the bane of all forums) which sometimes adds nothing at all to the discussion. As an aside, some years ago I suggested to one of the most enthusiastic posters about the Austrian helmets that it would be a good idea to assemble all his notes and findings into a coherent document for print or web (I'd have hosted that, happily); unfortunately this idea seemed to strike him as too much effort and nothing resulted. At least Oli Dorrell had done the work and finished the book! (Where is Walter Jacobs' book on Belgian helmets, one wonders? - last I heard he was tring to find a publisher, which struck me as a futile endeavour)

Then again, Oli Dorrell's book is specifically subtitled 'A quick reference guide' and on that basis is not likely to include a host of minor variations. The book succeeds admirably in its actual intentions - although I'm the first to admit and accept that almost no book of this sort is perfect. Equally, I am sure that the Warrelics threads - and others I know nothing of, on Austrian sites perhaps - could have been mined for inclusion but that would obviously have made the book bigger and with increased page-count comes increased cost. The hardback is £30 (35 euro more or less) and while a book twice the size may not be necessarily twice the price it would be a distinct jump up. This might put it out of reach for many, especially those who are not habitual book buyers and resistant in the first instance. (I'm very much in favour of helmet books, but even I am hesitating a very long time about buying the first volume of Kloskowski and Rolewski's POLISH HELMETS, which would be well over £100 including postage). Even when a book is self-published, and perhaps with no significant upfront costs, it still matters that people will actually *buy* it, otherwise all the effort is for nothing.

[Reibert]

Yes, Bernhard's expertise in this area and his extensive collection would also be enough for a good, informative reference work on the subject of helmets from the ÖBH.

I've spoken to him about it myself before, but unfortunately...

[Greg Pickersgill]

Must clarify - when I was thinking of the less clear threads and postings I had Austromunga in mind more than Bernhard, whose postings are well organised and informative. It was Austromunga I queried about writing his material up as a booklet or webpage. That said I do miss Austromunga's wild enthusiasm...