I am the co-author of the Osprey book titled "42cm 'Big Bertha' and German Siege Artillery of World War I." I am pleased to announce that the book has just been released for sale. It is based on primary German sources and is, at the moment, the most detailed English-language book about the development and employment of German 28cm, 30.5cm, and 42cm heavy guns. It contains many never before published photos and has several color illustrations of the guns and their prime movers.
Described in the book are the:
- 28cm L/12 i.R.
- 28cm L/14 i.R.
- 30.5cm Beta-Gerät
- 30.5cm Beta-Gerät 09
- 30.5cm Beta i.R.
- 30.5cm Beta-M-Gerät
- 42cm Gamma-Gerät
- 42cm M-Gerät
By the way, I do not make any extra money if the book sells well. I am just proud to have co-authored it!
Well, I've just received my copy and I'd like to say that it's well worth having.
Printed on shiny paper, reproduction of the photographs is excellent, my only criticism being that they are mostly fairly small! But I imagine that's due to cost constraints (for what it's worth I'd have paid a few quid extra for a thicker book accommodating larger photos). There are a few photos I'd not seen before, something that's always welcome.
The colour illustrations are well executed but scale drawings would have been more useful for the model maker (as many on this forum are) - I see Arie Dijkhuis, of this parish(!), is credited with helping out with plans so hopefully he might publish them here or somewhere else (nudge nudge, wink wink, in case he reads this...).
The text is excellent, being thoroughly informative and going into great operational detail. I can't vouch for its accuracy but it certainly appears authoritative and conforms with other sources I've read.
The comments concerning the fate of the two M-Gerät guns captured by the Americans would appear to satisfactorily resolve a minor mystery (namely that two dates are given by various sources, printed and web-based, for the scrapping of the guns).
There is, as the authors say, relatively little in English about these weapons and this is a very welcome addition to Anglophone publications.
