Purnells History of the World Wars Special: Heraldry of War Medals Badges and Uniforms

In good condition - has markings from use - due to differing weights in magazines, postage maybe adjusted at checkout.

The heraldry of war - the vivid, colourful display of uniforms, medals, badges and banners - has always been a powerful inducement to men to take up arms. But their main function is neither to confer glamour on their wearers, nor are they for mere empty display. There is, in the most sophisticated of men, something of primitive. Our ancestors went into battle wearing war-paint, and with shields and weapons elaborately decorated: all part of the ritual whose purpose was to demonstrate the unity of the tribe. In the same way, modern man, whether in the thick of battle or in one of those situations of complete isolation that occur so frequently in war - deep in the bowels of warship in action, in a trench under shellfire, or in the cockpit of an aeroplane with enemy aircraft in sight - needs a sense of identity with country and comrades. It is this sense of identity that the heraldry of war provides.
The cross section of uniforms, medals, and insignia contained in this book can, then, be regarded as something more than a collection of colourful devices and complex diagrams. They provide a link between the purely functional need for immediate identification and the inborn need of man to dress himself for the occasion; especially when that occasion is facing death in defence of all that one holds dear.