STAR WARS IMPERIAL HANDBOOK
Available in hardback from Titan Books
For every fan of Star Wars, Titan Books have published this awesome Imperial Handbook, compiled by Emperor Palpatine and his high ranking officers and distributed to all the commanders in the Imperial military before the destruction of the first Death Star. The distribution of these handbooks have since ceased but the Rebel Alliance have managed to get their hands on this copy allowing them insightful and invaluable information into the Empire’s inner-workings and plans.
The book goes into great detail about every division in the Empire’s Imperial Military, from the Imperial Navy to the Stormtroopers Corps. Every little detail that a commander could need on weaponry, code of conduct, strategies, defense bases, engineering and personnel are recorded in easy to digest paragraphs with illustrations, photos and blueprints to accompany the text where necessary. The book is split into chapters to deal with each division and gives full statistics on weapons, military units, vehicles and defense equipment. There’s no grey areas here: the Imperial Handbook is a compulsory guide for any Commander under the Empire and must adhere to its every rule and use the information given to enforce the rules and deal with any traitors to the Empire. It’s just as well that Commander Luke Skywalker of the Alliance Command has obtained a good condition copy of the manual and has added his own notes along the sides of the pages, as have Han Solo, Princess Leia, General Carlist Rieekan of the Alliance Command, Imperial defector General Crix Madine, Commander Wedge Antilles of Rogue Squadron and Alliance Commander-In-Chief Mon Mothma. They’ve added valuable annotations whilst underlining important facts and details that will aid the Rebellion as well giving their personal thoughts on certain aspects of the Empires.
This 6″ x 8.5″ black hardback book features white debossed logos and text on the front with a matt black logo on the back to contrast with the glossy base of the hardback. The book contains 160 pages, most of which are coloured or feature a border in some description. The pages are black gilt-edged, something you don’t often see in books but it really sets the tone of the book as well as making it a beautiful collector’s item to own, read and cherish. The colour illustrations inside the book, that feature on most pages, help to visualise the details being described and, having had my own handbooks for various things in the past, these would definitely help an Imperial Commander to do his job correctly. Everything you’d want to know is laid out here in simple, easy to read chunks and the knowledge gained, even about deep space wildlife, would be important which makes this book a goldmine for the Rebel Alliance Command who’ll need all the help they can get. As far as the Rebels’ notes at the side of the book go, I thought there would be more detail but this book is very much for those who prefer to side with the Empire.
For an in-world book, Star Wars Imperial Handbook is exceptional. The book is comprehensive in every way that it feels authentic which will delight and impress fans of the franchise. Author Daniel Wallace previously wrote The Jedi Path manual and so like all things in life, there has to be a black to the white, a true opposite. If the Dark Side is where you truly belong then this book, along with previously published Book Of Sith, is a must-have in your collection and for those siding with the Rebellion, it wouldn’t do any harm to keep tabs on how the Empire is structured and what they have planned with their high ranking military personnel manual.
Beautifully presented with its colourful pages, engaging layout and hardback details, it would be a galactic crime if you weren’t to have this on your bookshelf.
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