Imperial German Colonial Troops & Police in Africa
(Die Kaiserlichen Schutztruppen und Polizeitruppen für Afrika)
By Reinhard Schneider. Translated by Chris Dale.
Hardcover, 280 Pages, 8" x 10" (20.5 cm x 26 cm), 2023.
Description:
This book is a study of the Imperial German Colonial protection forces and police (Schutztruppen and Polizeitruppen) in Africa from 1888 to 1918. These units gained fame during the First World War for the military strategies of General von Lettow-Vorbeck and the tenacity of his undefeated forces in German East Africa (present-day Tanzania). Less well-known but quite controversial are the campaigns of the decade prior to the war, in which General von Trotha suppressed the Herero and Nama tribes in German South-West Africa (present-day Namibia).
After many years of research, the author has assembled a large body of information on the formation, organization, training, deployment, uniforms, weapons, equipment and other details of these units, much of it presented here for the first time in English. This study includes an overview of Germany’s forces in Cameroon and Togo, which helps close an important gap in the study of military history. 280 pages, richly illustrated with more than 350 color and B&W photos, illustrations, and maps.
ISBN # 978-0-9626506-1-1
Shipping Info:
This book weighs 4 pounds (1.8 Kilograms), and the cost of shipping might dissuade those living in far-off lands. However, in the interest of getting the book into the hands of those who will enjoy reading it, I have decided to offer FREE SHIPPING. I imagine that residents of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa especially will find this to be a very generous offer. NOTE: This offer of free shipping DOES NOT include insurance ! If the book is lost or damaged, I cannot refund your money. However, a damaged book seems quite unlikely. To ensure that each book will arrive in perfect condition, they will be shipped inside a strong box with cardboard corner protectors and bubble wrap.
To inquire about buying multiple copies of the book, please send an e-mail to:
Info@PedestrianPress.com (please put "Schutztruppe Book" in the subject line)
Why this book?
A bit of background for those who may be surprised to find this book listed amongst the t-shirts that I offer:
I have long wished to publish more books on my small imprint, after previously publishing the World War II memoirs and autobiography of my ex-wife's grandmother Helen Gilbert. After 17 years, Pedestrian Press finally has a second publication under its belt. Although quite the pacifist, I was drawn to military history and uniforms at a very early age. I have long been fascinated with World War I, as well as Germany’s involvement in the Boxer Rebellion and its brief Colonial period. What began as a friendship with fellow collector Reinhard Schneider in Berlin led to my offering to re-design the cover of a book he had authored about the Schutztruppe in Africa. This snowballed into an ever-expanding 5-year project and my decision to publish this English edition of Reinhard's book. The translation was done by Chris Dale in London, who really knows his stuff, and who runs the peerless website on the subject: www.GermanColonialUniforms.co.uk. During the process Chris taught me a lot about the subject matter, and I also ended up learning a lot about book design from my fellow designer Ingo Priebe in Berlin. Producing and printing this expanded English edition was an exhausting and expensive project, but one which yielded a very nice book of which I am quite proud. I hope it will be of interest to historians and militaria collectors alike.
