Book review: The M-1 Helmet of the World War II GI (Oosterman)

Published by Schiffer, this book, by Pieter Oosterman has been around since 2010.

Like manySchiffer books, it is beautiful, and ultimately disappointing.

The book profiles, in loving detail, fixed-bail McCord and Schlueter helmets of World War II.  That is the first disappointment, it does not cover flexible-bail helmets...this is the sort of thing that propagates the common fallacy that flexible bails were solely post-war: this is particularly misleading for novice collectors, that belief is no fault of the author, but it would have been more satisfying, comprehensive, and useful had he included the flexible-bail models.

Despite that large omission, the book is chock-full of information, and, as is typical with Schiffer books, the volume is lush and the photos are a treat to behold, and the author has provided a superb variety of helmets, liners, straps, buckles, etc, to satisfy the novice and intermediate collector alike.

Much of the narrative information is based upon what the author observes about the pictured component.  However, many assertions are made without citation of any sort.  In many instances the author's assertions are qualified with phrases such as "...it seems likely that..." which is great, he is qualifying his statement.  However, in other instances he will make a statment without qualifaction or citation, which leaves the reader in the position of simply having to take the authors word for it. I'd like to research further, I'd like the original source so that I can find more details...or even confirmation of the information; but again, no citations are given, no bibliography is provided, and the reader is left with only the word of the author to go on. 

 Since when is this good scholarship?  

Even an eighth-grader is required to subscribe to the basic rules of research; indeed, most word processing programs have style guides for inserting footnotes and citations built right in to the system.

These requirements are unshakable in any legitimate scholarship.

Again, this is the most fundamental rule of scholarly research - to prove your assertions, and to allow the reader opportunities to go to the sources listed in the bibliography to continue their research.  Without these basics - required basics - of scholarship, the entire work can be called into question.

The University of Wisconsin states the resons we cite in a very succinct manner:

• Sources that support your ideas give your paper authority and credibility
• Shows you have researched your topic thoroughly
• Crediting sources protects you from plagiarism
• A list of sources can be a useful record for further research

Different academic disciplines prefer different citation styles. In addition to Turabian, APA and MLA are common at UWW. 

Besides these styles, there are Chicago, AAA, AP, and many others. You should only use the most current edition of the citation style unless told otherwise.

Ask your instructor which citation style he/she wants you to use for assignments. (1)

(1)  https://libguides.uww.edu/turabian#:~:text=Most%20academic%20writing%20cites%20others,sources%20protects%20you%20from%20plagiarism [wasn't that simple?]

I would also add that citations show respect for your reader.

Here we are at the back of the book where the sources and bibliography should be; it's the first place I look when buying a non-fiction book.

I'd like to say that this book is the exception, however, ninety percent of the books on my helmet bookshelf are without the fundamentals of citations, footnotes, references, and bibliography.

Why do we, as collectors, allow this (especially in this ninety-dollar book)?

Sadly, in future book reviews, I'll merely have to cut-and-paste the foregoing, so widespread is the problem.

In a classic case of the-pot-calling-the-kettle-black, I, myself, in this blog, have routinely omitted references, though in the past year I have corrected that lapse with citations whenever needed.

Despite these serious shortcomings, the book is filled with sumptious photos, which are great references, especially for the collector who has some experience in the hobby.

I recommend this utterly gorgeous book...

with some serious qualification.

See you next time.

Mannie