BOOKS
Military history, modelling, automotive, games

Recently Histoire et Collections was placed 52nd out of all French publishers which means that it is 20th among all the independent publishers, i.e. it does not  belong to any other literary, industrial or financial group (Source: Livres Hebdo, October 2004).

Every year more than thirty new books are added to the Groupe Histoire et Collections catalogue, in all the military history–related hobby sectors. Thus you will find:

The Encyclopaedia of the French Army, which introduces French soldiers with their insignia and uniforms, as well as their heavy equipment (vehicles, fortifications, etc.). The Maginot Line, the B tanks, the African troops, and new titles about to appear like the Dragoons, etc.
The Mini-Guides 1914-1918 and 1939-1945: small books in which are summarised, for a modest sum and with a host of illustrations, WWI and WWII operations in the main regions of France.

A very rich collection of beautiful large-format books devoted to soldiers and uniforms to military material and to operations of WWII, a collection accompanied by a series on battle tanks and armoured vehicles.

Two series which plunge right into less recent history with the uniforms of yesteryear (the Grande Armée of Napoleon, the Imperial Guard, the Hussars, soldiers and officers of the First Empire, American Civil War - both North and South – etc.) and on the Napoleonic campaigns.

A collection devoted to planes in which famous military aircraft (Messerschmitt 109, Mustang, Mirage, Corsair, etc.) or famous civilian planes like the Lockheed Constellation are dealt with; a series devoted to modern elite troops, Special Forces, paratroopers, GIGN, combat frogmen.

Collections on models and modelling (all the assembling and painting techniques for model planes and armour, lead, plastic or resin figurines, scale models of civilian vehicles, diorama making, etc., all the subjects presented in the Encyclopédie du Modélisme  (the Modelling Encyclopaedia); and the new trend for Action figures (the 12 inch figurines, dressed and equipped exactly like the real soldiers, with amazingly realistic military equipment and accessories); finally a collection of booklets on War-Game rules which enable players to give battle on table tops with lead or plastic figurines, representing First Empire, American Civil War, WWII or post-WWII conflicts.

Histoire et Collections: Press, but also books

Histoire et Collections started as a press publisher then launched into publishing books in 1990 with the creation of the Europa Militaria series, made up of soft-cover paperback fascicules mainly devoted to WWII and modern elite troops and offered from the outset on an international basis with editions in several languages. The first big bound books published by H & C from 1993 were collections of articles or regular columns from the press. Militaria (with especially the superb series “Gros Plan” – Close-up), Militaria Special Editions, Raids and Tradition thus furnished the main part of the early H & C books.

Then suddenly, real novelties as yet unheard of saw the light of day. Thus between 1994 and 1997, fifteen or so titles were brought out, almost always accompanied by an English-language version since H & C remains faithful to its original idea of giving an international dimension to the majority of its books. The big development in the book department at H & C started in 1998, a year in which fourteen titles were brought out and in which the themes tended to diversify further. It gained ground and with the number of new books increasing steadily; 29 titles came out in 2002 (the year the Mini-Guides were created), 28 in 2003 and 36 in 2004, the year which brought H & C up into 20th place among the independent publishers.

Moreover where its original speciality - military history – is concerned, H & C holds first place by a long chalk in France and numbers among the principal publishers in the domain world-wide, proudly carrying the French colours and French quality beyond its frontiers.