Need a recommendation

Hello, Could anyone recommend a book to help a new collector indentify different badges, medals etc? Would be nice if it had pictures, followed by a description of the item, Or something like that. Thanks.

A good online reference...http://britishbadgeforum.com/

Hello Tyden, Your request is a common question. However, it covers a huge collecting area. There are reference books for badges, medals, uniforms, weapons, edged weapons, personal equipment,etc. And then these may be found by arm of service, by time period, etc. Perhaps some focus would assist? Are you going to concentrate on medals? Badges?

There is a new series of books out by Darby Whitebone called 'The Sergeant Majors Book of Badges'. There are eleven books in the series and they seem to be more of a checklist for the various badges and patches but should still be good for identifying Canadian items. I have my eye on five of them so far.

Standard references for Canadian badges are Babins CEF booklet, the Mazeas 1920-1952 kings crown period book, and the Pre-1914 Mazeas book. The last two have been offered on ebay for $100 with a buy it now option. The queen's crown badges are best covered by Thomson.
For a full list check http://www.britishbadgeforum.com/books/bibliography.htm. Check the link at the top of the page to go to the Commonwealth section. The best source for many of these is ABE Books online.