A first-rate read
Oliver C. Dorrell sheds some much-needed light on the often overlooked, and always fun to collect, Austrian family of M1-type helmets.
There are many helmet books out there, and a precious few that I find of this caliber. Dorrell approaches the subject with what seems to be both affection and scholarship; both of these are all too often missing from the usual stable of such books.
The art direction of this book is superior, richly illustrated with excellent photographs, drawings, and charts. Dorrell provides observation rather than conjecture, which is refreshing in this hobby. His approach is the "walk-around" style of presentation. His observations of each iteration of the Austrian M1 are clear, concise,,nearly complete.
He surprised me. My first stop, with any helmet reference book, are the final pages - where the sources should be. For some reason, all too frequently, collectors allow the so-called "experts" to make unsubstantiated claims, providing neither citations nor bibliography. Dorrell, provides both bibliography and references. Though I would have preferred citations, Dorrel relies heavily on his own observations, approaching the subject as a fellow enthusiast rather than a self-anointed guru.
The Austrian M1 family of helmets represent a group that too often go unnoticed by collectors, which is a shame as they are so interesting and so representative of the post-war/Cold War era in Europe, Dorrell explores every detail, compares every component, and seems to leave no stone unturned in his summary of these interesting helmets...and he provides the reader with many, many examples.
This is a solid piece of reference material, and a boon for both novice and advanced collector. I'm very happy to have this volume on my helmet bookshelf, it is informative, pretty to look at, and an altogether very useful book.
Let's see more of this and less of the helmet porn that passes for authoritative reference books filled with beautiful photos and unsubstantiated conjecture.
I really like this very worthwhile book, and I highly recommend it.
I'm hopeful that we'll see more from this collector.
