| Title | : | Imperial Handbook: A Commanders Guide |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1452145288 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781452145280 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 160 |
| Publication | : | First published October 20, 2014 |
© and TM Lucasfilm Ltd. Used Under Authorization
Imperial Handbook: A Commanders Guide Reviews
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It's a really pretty read - the art is wonderful, the cover is slick, and the black edges to the pages is REALLY slick - I have it front and center among all my Star Wars books, it makes for a beautiful display book.
The actual written content leaves something to be desired. Sometimes the writing is pretty good, but at other times it seems disjointed and doesn't flow very well. At its best it's informative and entertaining, at its worst it reads like something my 10-year-old nephew would come up with. The rebels' commentary can be pretty humorous at times, but it doesn't really add much to the content other than "The Empire is really bad, guys".
Speaking of. One thing I could have done without is the over-the-top constant "subtle" comparison of the Empire to Nazi Germany. We all KNOW the Empire is the enemy, it really doesn't have to be hammered in every single paragraph. The moral history lessons were very heavy-handed and painfully obvious in this book. I get that the Empire is supposed to be The Bad Guy (tm), but it would have been nice if they'd tried more for keeping with the Star Wars "feel" instead of going through so much painstaking effort to equate Imperials and Nazis. All in all when I got to the end of the book I had nearly forgotten I was reading Star Wars. -
While this isn’t a comic, I’m also not counting it towards the 20 novels I want to read this year (my actual goodreads goal of course counts everything I read towards it, so by its count I’ve already finished my goal. But I’m only counting actual novels) because it’s a tie-in book. I just don’t think I should count it because I’m really trying to focus on reading novels again since I think single issue comics has taken away a decent chunk of my reading time (not that I don’t enjoy the single issues, but I also am an SFF and mystery reader at heart).
Anyway, I thought this was pretty fun. I oddly liked the “comments” in this one more than I did the Jedi and Sith books. Leia and Mon Mothma were my favorites.
Overall I think this little miniseries is interesting, but since it was written before 2014 it isn’t part of the Canon, so it’s not really essential reading for Star Wars fans anymore. But still I think they’re enjoyable if you wanted to pick them up. Now I just have the Bounty Hunter book left. -
metade do livro é legal de ler, 30% é meio fodase e 20% da vontade de jogar o livro pela janela
the drawings are nice tho -
The artwork is amazing and the black edges on the pages make the book look really cool. The actual context though is not that great. It does have what are supposed to be handwritten notes to the reader in the index from Madine, Han, Leia, and tons more which is a cool element to this book. I would recommend to any Star Wars fans out there!
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It's considered a Legends book now, but if you want an idea on how the Empire works, this is a great little book for you! I loved it! :D
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I think out of the three books from this series that I've read so far this one was my least favourite. Don't get me wrong, it was super interesting and full of cool information, but it also had the most figures and statistics packed into it which bores me a little.
That being said I did love all the information on the different Stormtroopers and being able to read about all the ships, vehicles, and cool weaponry the Empire get to play with. And the fact that you read this from the viewpoint of an Imperial Officer is very cool if, like me, you can't help but love the bad guys. Another must read for fans of Star wars. -
Book Structure
Sometime between the Battle of Endor and the Battle of Jakku, Luke Skywalker found a copy of The Imperial Handbook: A Commander's Guide and added it to the Rebel Alliance archives.
Handwritten Notes
With the book in possession of the Rebels, a few took the time to read it and add their handwritten comments right on the page: General Carlist Rieekan of Alliance Command, Imperial defector General Crix Madine, Commander Wedge Antilles of Rogue Squadron, Alliance Commander-in-Chief Mon Mothma, and our favourites: Han, Luke, and Leia.
I love how Madine, Wedge, and Han underwent training by the Empire. Their insight adds a lot to this guide. On the flipside, Mothma and Leia offer commentary with respect to politics. It's a good mixture of viewpoints; however, I wish the original owner of the book added some notes. Perhaps the book belonged to Tarkin or Thrawn. Missed opportunity.
Book Build
The Imperial Handbook is as orderly as Tarkin's wardrobe. It has a table of contents and it is printed on high quality paper. It is not frayed ancient scrap paper like the other books of this collection. The Empire is no place for such chaos. Heck, the book even looks like carbon fiber, a very orderly material. So to conclude, the book design looks great and truly makes me feel like I am part of the Empire. Mission accomplished Chronicle Books.
Content
This book is divided into 5 sections sandwiched between introductory and concluding notes from His Imperial Majesty. I will list the contents of each section to give you an idea of what to expect.
Part I: The Imperial Military by Admiral Wullf Yularen
-The Empire's New Order
-History of the Galactic Empire
-Structure of the Imperial Military
-How Can We Manage a Galaxy?
-Spies and Secret Police
-Imperial Policies
-Military Recruitment
Part II: The Imperial Navy by Admiral Conan Antonio Motti
-History of the Imperial Navy
-The Imperial Crewer
-Imperial Navy Uniforms
-Naval Officer Rank Insignia
-Structure and Organization
-Imperial Navy Ships of the Fleet
-Mission Report: The Battle of Turkana
Part III: The Imperial Army by High General Cassio Tagge
-History of the Imperial Army
-The Imperial Soldier
-Imperial Army Uniforms
-Mission Structure
-Vehicles of the Imperial Army
-Imperial Garrisons
-Mission Report: The Pacification of Salline
Part IV: The Stormtrooper Corps by TX-5532
-History of the Stormtrooper Corps
-Academies and Training
-The Imperial Stormtrooper
-Structure and Organization
-Stormtrooper Specializations
-Elite Stormtrooper Units
-Mission Report: Heroism in the Emperor's Service
Part V: The Imperial Doctrine by Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin
-The Projection of Power: The Empire's Right to Rule
-The Tarkin Doctrine: A Blueprint for Supremacy
-The Rebellion: A Malignant Threat to Imperial Order
-The Rebellion: Active Threats
-Superweapons
-Imperial DS-1 Orbital Battle Station: The Death Star
Score
Much like the Bounty Hunter Code, this book is largely an infodump. The Jedi Path and Book of Sith both benefit from the abstract nature of the force to be more intriguing. The Imperial Handbook does nothing wrong. It is orderly and straight to the point, exactly what you'd expect from the Empire. This is a reference book at the end of the day so I feel like 5 stars is appropriate. -
I hate giving a Star Wars book a negative rating, because I absolutely love Star Wars. My favorite franchise, easily. This book however was sooooo boring. I read another type of these books, the Jedi Order book, awhile ago, and it was great. It was interesting throughout, and the things I learned about the Star Wars universe in it have stuck with me, because I found them interesting. This book however gave a lot of facts and figures, numbers about troops that could never be remembered, not that you would even want to. There were a lot of army-like statistics that just don't make for a good read. Anyways, skip this one. Read Jedi Order though, and I have a good feeling about the Sith Code too, even though I haven't read it yet, but I plan to. (Sith Code was a companion to the Jedi Order, while the Imperial Handbook was made much later with a different vibe.)
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Part propaganda and part technical manual, the Imperial Handbook is a sleek, slick copy of an in-world guidebook given to newly promoted Imperial officers shortly before the Battle of Yavin. It details the principles of Imperial doctrine as well as history, makeup, battle tactics, and weaponry of the Imperial Navy, Army, and Stormtrooper Corps as well as a section on the secret development of super weapons, all bookended by statements from Emperor Palpatine himself. The "story" of the guidebook is that it fell into the hands of Rebel high command and so the book is filled with handwritten notations in the margins from Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Han Solo, Mon Mothma, Wedge Antilles, General Crix Madine, and General Carlist Rieeken. The sections that got into the technicals and specifics of weapons, squad numbers, platoon numbers, etc. were a little dry, and the notations didn't add a whole lot, but it was interesting to see how the Empire presented itself to its officers. The vague mentions of Darth Vader's presence within Imperial military matters were humorous, and the sections on the Royal Guard, the Tarkin Doctrine, and the Emperor's writings were well done. Enjoyable for us mega-nerds.
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12 - 2021
Ketimbang isi buku saku pegangan imperial ini, aku lebih suka baca catatan pinggir dari para karakter original Star Wars, terutama Han Solo. -
This beautifully presented 160-page hardback book is just the thing you need now that the war against the Empire is pretty much over. The Battle of Endor is finished and the Emperor has fallen, and now that peace is finally breaking out across the galaxy there are many things surfacing, and this book (distributed to the Imperial forces before the Battle of Yavin) makes for interesting reading.
The book is introduced by Luke Skywalker and details the ins and outs of the Imperial war machine, from the military, the navy, the army, the stormtrooper corps, the Imperial doctrine itself and some notes from Palpatine himself. Throughout the book there are hand-written notes about the content by high-ranking rebel officers, even Han and Leia, and the whole thing feels like a war report prepared and annoted by the victors.
And that’s my first problem with the book. The introduction by Skywalker looks like it was typed on a 1940s typewriter. That’s a design choice that immediately pulls me out of the atmosphere of the setting as I’m pretty sure that there were no Underwoods in the Star Wars galaxy. A stylised computer screen would have worked just fine and suited the style of the rest of the book, which is crisp and well laid out.
My other issue is that the annotations can be sometimes humorous but are ultimately pointless. As I’m reading the book and I’m learning about the Imperials, a distracting note or remark grabs my attention. It doesn’t ruin the book but I don’t feel that it adds the charm and personalisation that it intends.
Other than that the book is really good – the design is excellent, especially the stark black and white cover and black-trimmed pages, and it’s an easy read. The artwork is excellent throughout (the recruitment posters are an exceptionally nice touch) and the details aren’t exceptionally deep but it gives you an excellent idea of exactly how the Empire operated.
As a life-long fan and an avid player of the Star Wars roleplaying game when it first came out in the 1980s, it reminded me very much of the Imperial Sourcebook. The details - such as the structure, the different Imperial departments and even the design of the Imperial garrison – threw me back and it was a nice read.
Apart from my obvious issues with some aspects of the design choice it is a good book. Star Wars fans with deep knowledge of the way the Imperials ran things might not learn anything new from this, but those wanting to know more will get a lot out of it. Not only that, it looks great on a collector’s bookshelf.
Recommended. -
Part propaganda and doctrine, part technical manual, this beautifully designed "handbook" provides a wealth of details on all things Imperial. At times a little too dry and frustratingly stingy with comprehensive illustrations, there's still a lot of interesting breakdowns of the different branches of the Imperial military, command structure, ships, and weaponry all presented in a faux guide for Imperial officers.
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Very good and detailed
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Fun, informative and a delightfully easy read and not all propaganda, for this Star Wars lover the Imperial Handbook was hard to put down.
With a lovely black hardback cover reminiscent of Dark Trooper plastoid, this small book contains a decent amount of information on the Imperial War Machine, including all service branches, the breakdown of their ranks and the technology they employed. For me the cream of this information was its listing of the various Tie-fighters, how they functioned and upcoming prototypes, as well as the various land craft used by the Empire and the upcoming super-weapons, the culmination of which was the Death Star. In all this demonstrated how the empire was slowly adapting to the growing threat of the rebels (adding shields to Tie-fighters for instance).
While many fans of the series might quickly dismiss the book as being just a mix of imperial propaganda and half truths, this misses the more serious elements of how it relates to the cannon. This point is emphasized by the notes left by rebel leaders who have been presented as reading the book. At times this results in jokes; Han laughing at the inaccuracy of the supposedly pristine E-11 Stormtrooper rifle, or the clear inferiority of the Tie-fighter to the X-Wing in defensive capability.
But it is clear that a deep respect or rather fear is also held by the rebels for the empire. They openly admit that they cannot compete with its technology, training and manpower. Indeed it is what they don't say that reveals the difference between truth and propaganda. While the 'bucket heads' may laughed at this is done reservedly enough and on many occasions their training as soldiers is respected by the rebels (it was the inaccuracy of the E-11 that Han joked about not the soldiers). Military academies are the subject of great anxiety and seriousness and much of the imperial arsenal inspires awe among the rebels. It certainly adds a new layer of tension to the typical humor of the original trilogy.
Of course there are some drawbacks. Many of the 'reports' though fun are simplistic, while the break down of the various branches into their various components can be tedious. Indeed by the time they get to the Stormtrooper section any real description goes out the window. Further the imperial army branch (compared to the Navy/Stormtroopers) gets a lot of air-time for something that appears only rarely in the series, while the Stormtroopers are presented as more elite, more specialized in use and restricted in numbers, which again is not really how they are presented in the series overall.
Never the less for a star wars fan this book still contains a lot of fun little notes and insights that can be applied directly to the main cannon, and though six years old at this point it still holds up really well. I would happily recommend it for any would be rebel or imperial to have a read. -
Out of the four books in the
Star Wars®: Secrets of the Galaxy Deluxe Box Set, this is the worst one. Dry, mind-numbingly boring propaganda waters down what is otherwise an interesting look into the insanely huge army of the Galactic Empire. Especially the beginning was tough to trudge through due to it being more tedious than most, if not all, schoolbooks I have read during the previous years - and I'd like to think that it's saying something.
The highlight of this book, for me, is the section about Stormtroopers due to my interest in the clone troopers, who came before them. It also most likely sported the best propaganda-to-information ratio. The notes from the rebels, especially Han and Wedge, also made it easier to read through this book.
Another thing I want to note is the outside of the book. While the black lining of the pages is cool, it also made some of the pages stick together when I first opened to book. The matte finish of the cover is also something I did not like; it looks cool and has the "high quality" look that you could expect from the Empire, but it also felt sticky even before my hands started to sweat while reading, which made reading the book more uncomfortable than it should've been.
All in all, if you're a hardcore fan who loves Imperial stuff, this is a good read. I, on the other hand, am just glad that the book is finally over and I won't need to open it for a long, long time. If the system allowed me to give half stars, I'd probably give 2.5, but since it doesn't, I'll round it down to 2.
Note: My specific copy was printed in 2019 as part of the
Star Wars®: Secrets of the Galaxy Deluxe Box Set so it might be a little different from the edition listed on GoodReads, but the differences are most likely trivial. -
This short book is a tongue in cheek handbook examining the Imperial (think Darth Vader era) Star Wars antagonist forces. While it contains a lot of interesting information about force structure, equipment, and even battles; throughout the book famous rebels like Han Solo and Princess Leia have hand written humorous or insightful notations. Of course, many of the authors names will be familiar to Star Wars fans like Colonel (later General) Maximillian Veers and Captain (later Admiral) Firmus Piett on the Imperial side.
As enjoyable as this book was to read and is to keep as a great quick reference, a close reading will be a bit disappointing. I do not think some of the experimental equipment and even imperial military forces it describes made it into canon so thus it does not quite match the franchise's books or movies. Also, the actual writing quality varies quite a bit throughout the book. I do not know if this was purposeful in order to make it seem like multiple authors really did write it or not, but it clearly shows the author has never actually read real life doctrine from any country. On the plus side, in this book's role as a reference, the graphics are very well done throughout it.
Despite really wishing this book's narrative was cleaned up and, in some parts, made a bit more compelling, I still recommend this book to Star Wars fans of any age. Half of this book's value is as a reminder of your own favorite movie scene, Star Wars story, or other franchise item. Of course, this work's obvious value as a quick reference on Emperor Palpatine's Imperial Military makes it a must have for Star Wars fans. Outside of just Star Wars fans, I recommend this to fans of warfare in science fiction and space operas in general since it has some interesting ideas about weapons systems and military organization. -
not a novel just a Handbook, and I love it for what it is. Granted it should have been called the Imperial Commander's Handbook, as it's given to the newly made officers. Imperial's Handbook makes it sound like you get it once you become a member of the military. I do wish it focused a little more on things like the chain of command, Fleet structure, etc but again this handbook's made for Officers people who would know most of what I would like added. My only real issue is if you're going to put Luke and everyone's scribbles in the book, why didn't you pick a random person for the book to belong to and have that Commander's scribbles in here too or sell a scribbless version. For me, the Scribbles are really annoying as they come off as trying really hard to talk **** on the Imperials. It's not like the Jedi or Sith books in this same line of books. Those the scribbles are really neat, however here It's just annoying. Maybe that's because I rather have scribbles from Thrawn, Pitta, Dalia, anyone but the good guys. Regardless I still will be using it for my star wars DnD campaign as I tend to play Imperials.
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Bueno, el general el libro es un fanservice de la ostia con bastante información estirada como un chicle y sacada de la manga que no casa en nada con las películas y que probablemente se haya inventado un señor de una editorial. Le pongo un 2* porque las ilustraciones son bonitas pero la información es infumable.
Son como unos apuntes de una asignatura que te aburre y no te interesa. Me sentía como si estuviera estudiando. Y mira que me fascina el universo Star Wars pero la información de este libro parece escrita por un mono tocando los platillos. Estará aprobada por George Lucas para sacar pasta pero desde luego no está inventada por él porque es infumable que te diga el peso de un arma no sé qué cojones (por poner un ejemplo de muchos).
Si quieres coleccionar merchandising de Star Wars está bien, la encuadernación es preciosa y queda muy bien en la librería.
Menos mal que no me costó un duro. -
Good but not the best in the series overall.
Written as an in-universe instruction book for imperial officers, this book looks absolutely awesome. The art is really well done and the production, layout, diagrams, "handwritten notes" and much more make this an awesome book.
So why only three stars?
Well.... the book looks awesome, but some of the text inside were a bit lackluster. Sure its nice to know the unit composition of various squads, betallions, flotillas and such, but it got rather repetitive and a wast of pages when you get them for al 3 branches of the imperial armed forces. It made those parts feel boring to read and dragged down the rest of te book. Granted the book does give quite a bit information besides this, but given the quality of previous books in this series it all felt a bit disappointing.
I'm not sorry I bought this book. Even just because of the good bits.... ohh and to complete my collection of course! -
Like other books by the same team (The Jedi Path / Book of Sith / The Bounty Hunter Code) this one is a mock of an Imperial Handbook filled with interesting trivia and facts from Star Wars, specifically about the Empire and from the supponsed point of view of military personnel, including Grand Moff Tarkin and with written comments by key Rebel Alliance personnel from the likes of General Rieekan and even Princess Leia and Mon Mothma.
Although the book is good and I liked all the references and the thechical details, it is written as a propaganda-esque hand manual for an Imperial Commander and sometimes it does not keep the same tone and feels a bit awkard and incongruous. Same with the "hand written" comments by people like Han Solo, Wedge Antilles, and others.
Still, it is enjoyable and filled with information that a Star Wars fan would appreciate.
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The book is a fun read. comprising chapters that include the Imperial Navy, Army, etc. as well as the weapons, machines, and armor they use. At times, the chapters do seem to get a bit tedious as the descriptions of every single item go on and on.
There is a lot of fun information and facts that you won't get in the movies or TV shows, which is cool. The only downside, as mentioned above is that they go into more detail than I was interested in, in most chapters. Still, a great read, but I did find myself towards the end of the book, flipping ahead and counting how many pages were left. -
Actually a very interesting book. It shows more about the indoctrination of troops and the setup of the empire's forces that are never seen in the movies. So much more goes on then previously though. From troop deployments to individual troopers, this book has tons of interesting information.
Overall, something different to read. This offers a inside look at the empire's forces and should be on any hardcore star wars fan’s bookshelf or really read by anyone with an interest in star wars. -
Although this has passed into "Legends" it was still an entertaining read. Still confused how a Legion of the Empire's best troops (as defined in this book) were defeated by a bunch of Teddy bears. Well, I guess if not, no Ep. VII and VIII which, as I'm writing this on 1/1/17 is my most anticipated movie of the year (duh).
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Edição e capa bonita, mas merecia um papel melhor no miolo. O livro vai apresentando informações sobre o Império Galáctico. É uma leitora divertida e curiosa. Faz parte de uma coleção de livros capa dura que pertence ao antigo Universo Expandido de Star Wars, cada um em uma temática relativa à série. Vale o investimento.
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An improvement over the bounty hunter book for sure. The Imperial Handbook has a clean look and feel to it, you get a feeling of pride for the empire while reading it. The notes from characters were uninteresting to me unlike the Jedi Code book but the content itself was interesting. Worth picking up if you're a Star Wars fan, short but full of information and beautiful artwork.
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This book was so amazing! It told everything about the Empire's military forms. It has every kind of Stormtrooper, starfighter, starships, and a lot of other things about the empire like tips on how to be a good commander and such. It was so cool. It's like living in the Empire when you read it.
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Huge Star Wars fan so this was a fun read as an "officer's manual". I really liked the tidbit notes added that are supposed to be from Han, Leia, Luke, etc. Now it goes in with the rest of my Darth Vader collection.
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Imperial Handbook provides vital information on the inner working of the Imperial Military. I liked this book because it enriched my knowledge with new information about tactics, military ranking and different branches of the Imperial Army.
