PISTOLE PARABELLUM - History of the "Luger System"
by Joachim Görtz and Geoffrey L Sturgess
$225.00
Deluxe 3-Volume slipcased First Edition, 2010
2,014 pages, 1,917 illustrations, most in colour
Comprising an Editor's Preface, Author's Foreword, Introduction, sixty-three chapters of
profusely illustrated text plus a Bibliography, Glossary, and comprehensive 34-page Index,
this is the most complete and authoritative account ever published of every aspect of the
Pistole Parabellum—the world's most collectable handgun.
Volume I discusses and depicts the historical antecedents of the Parabellum with emphasis on
the Borchardt C93, and documents the derivation of the Parabellum from the C93. The bulk of
the volume is devoted to illustrated descriptions of all Parabellum prototypes and Old and
New Model variations as adopted by the Swiss and German militaries and manufactured for
foreign contract and commercial sale.
Volume II begins with an in-depth, historical discussion of the four Parabellum production
lines (in Germany, Switzerland, and Britain) and all the military, contract and commercial
models manufactured by each; the official production and military inspection and procurement
procedures, plus an exhaustive, fully-illustrated study of markings (factory internal,
proof, acceptance, serial numbers and unit), ending with a chapter on supplementary police
safeties and selective-fire conversions.
Volume III covers all the many accessories and ancillaries produced for the Borchardt C93 and
the Parabellum, including commercial, military and police manuals; holsters, magazine
pouches and holster/stocks; magazines and drums; maintenance accessories; Swiss and German
sub-calibre conversions; cases and cartons; and ammunition (7.65mm Borchardt and 7.65mm and
9mm Parabellum), including headstamps, special loadings, and military packaging and
labelling.
This is the first and only Luger study to tackle head-on the vexing issue of fakery. The
nearly two thousand sharp, clear illustrations in these volumes, mostly in full colour,
painstakingly depict and compare the key details of hundreds of genuine examples of
exquisite rarity with those of known fakes. In keeping with this as an ongoing theme
throughout all three volumes, the exhaustive Index in the back of Volume III directs the
reader to over 50 specific entries under the heading "Fakery".
See review below.
[Order]
[Checkout]
|
Exceptional
Review in
Man at
Arms
!
The
noted curator, author and researcher Herbert G. Houze has written an
exceptionally lengthy and effusive review of our new three-volume
deluxe cased
Pistole
Parabellum
set,
which appears in the June, 2011 issue of the prestigious NRA journal
Man at Arms
.
The
full text of the review, which takes up an unprecedented
page-and-a-half in the magazine, discusses the content and importance
of each of the three volumes in detail.
Excerpts
from this review, reprinted with permission, read as follows:
“.
. These are books meant to be used, not merely admired . . All
three [volumes] are jammed full of information concerning the pistols
designed by Hugo Borchardt and Georg Luger. Further examination .
.will reveal that the content has been organized in an accessible
fashion . . From a technical viewpoint, the set displays wonderfully
high production standards . . the illustrations are all uniformly of
exceptional quality. These factors, in combination with the set's
contents, have resulted in the creation of a reference work that is
without parallel in its field.
. . extensive use is made of photographic plates
illustrating comparative views of particular constructional details .
. This is of particular importance to collectors, since it provides
them with the means to quickly determine whether or not a particular
arm has been modified . . the authors have used the same method to
unmask fakes [and] have taken particular pains to expose the
tell-tale characteristics that differentiate genuine Luger pistols
from fakes . . the true value of the work will only become apparent
when it is put to use by collectors.
. . by virtue of the depth of research it embodies
and the wealth of information it contains, [this set] is an
immeasurably important addition to arms literature in general.”
|