A Review by Brian L Davies,
the world renowned author on Third Reich military history.
"The Military Music and Bandsmen of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich" by Brian Matthews, published privately by the Author under his imprint Tomahawk Films.
This book is a delight to both dip into and read. It is landscape in format with a hard, laminated cover. The text is contained on 320 pages and its content and production has obviously been a labour of love, a task that took the Author six years.
The book contains a plethora of fascinating information, contemporary photographs - 386 by my reckoning, some in colour,
the rest being contemporary black and white photos, the majority of which have never before been reproduced together with masses of items, mostly illustrated in colour and and many of which are of military, para-military and political insignia. It tells the story of the development of German military music from the time of Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia, through the Great War, through the period of depression in Germany in the 1920s, the rise of national Socialism in the 1930s, through the Second World War and onto the post-war divided Germany and up to the present time. It covers subjects such as the training of musicians of the Third Reich, the Musikkorps of both the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS, musical instruments, personal documents, sheet music and song books. The subject of the German radio, records and propoganda aimed at the German Home Front has a chapeter to itself. Details of composers, lyricsists and performers are set out accompanied by photographic illustrations of these people.
There are photographic illustrations of post cards, in particular those with the words of popular and patriotic tunes, song sheets, 
song books, performance and concert programmes, posters, actual gramophone records, musicians wings known as Swallow Nests, musical instruments of every kind (even mouth organs). Army, Navy and Air Force, SS, Waffen-SS, SA, RAD and HJ insignia including items such as musicians shoulder straps, collar patches, cuff-titles, arm bands, trumpet banners, kettle drum drapes, flags and banners, contemporary commercial adverts for musical instruments, steel helemts and their insignia, various forms of headdress, rubber stamps, sleeve chevrons, breast eagles, naval cap ribbons, basic military equipment, medals, decorations and war badges awarded to Bandsmen together with their printed citations, campaign armshields, various sports and merit badges, pay books, Wehrpass and Soldbuch, identitiy discs, identity cards both SS (SS-Ausweiss) and military (Truppenausweiss), personal weapons, side arms and their hangers.
As a bonus to any potential reader/purchaser the book has two sections on military musicians outside the historic period covered by the title of the book. In addition to the music and musicians of the Third Reich, Brian Matthews has devoted a section each to the musicians and bands including their uniforms and related insignia, of the West German Bundeswehr and the East German Volksarmee.
On the final pages of this work are the words to 79 songs, mostly military, some political, but all popular, marching or sentimental songs. Those 
that I can recognise are theHorst Wessel Lied (Die Fahnen hoch - Raise high the flag) which became the anthem of the National Socialist Party and which was always sung in conjunction with the Deutschland Lied, the German national anthem. Stille Nacht (Silent Night) a most evocative song frequently sung on Christmas Eve.Lili Marleen as sung by Lala Anderson, a song that was popular throughout Germany and which became a firm favourite of both the Afrikakorps and the 8th Army fighting each other in the Western desert. Other tunes I can recognise such as Ich hatt' einen kameraden (I had a comrade) and Das Engeland Lied (Wir fahren gegen Engeland. We drive against England).
I commend this book highly and suggest that you place an order for your copy now. Privately published books have a habit of selling out fast and once sold they seem to disappear from the book world and then you kick yourself.
Price : UK £55.00 (inc P+P) - Europe £59.95 (inc P + P) - Rest of World £63.95 (inc P + P)
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