These are some of the websites and books that have proved very useful to us. We are happy to share them with you.

WEBSITES
Google and the like will find many sites with ease. We list here some of the sites that we have found especially useful, that have links to many other useful sites or that a search engine may not necessarily find or rank highly.

General: www.medals.org.uk created by the admirable Megan Robertson has a wealth of images of both orders decorations and medal and their ribbons. Also many links to other useful sites that we will not repeat here.

General: www.geocities.com/athens/4795/ is also packed with information and useful links.

General: www.netdialogue.com/yy/main.htm created by Yuri Yashnev is another notable personal achievement (Russian and English languages and many excellent illustrations)

Belgium: users.skynet.be/hendrik and much else besides.

Ethiopia:www.ethiopiancrown.org has a mass of valuable information on Imperial Ethiopian orders and decorations under the Religious, Traditional & Ceremonial section.

Finland: www.presidentti.fi/english used to be a fantastic resource with all the decorations of the War of Independence, Winter War and Continuation War but some idiot working for the Finnish Government has removed all this historic material, leaving just summary details of the three orders. You can lobby for its restoration by emailing president@tpk.fi.

International: www.heraldica.org/topics/orders has a great deal of very interesting material relating to heraldry and ephemeral and pseudo-orders and the sometimes murky world of revived and recently created orders of chivalry.

Japan: www.xavierb.net/japan/index.html is well worth visiting, though somewhat clunky to use.

Netherlands: www.onderscheidingen.nl is an excellent source of information, though only the section in Dutch is yet working.

Norway: www.kongehuset.no/default.asp?lang=eng shows orders and medals under the Royal Palace section

Ottoman Turkey: www.turkishmedals.net is absolutely superb on the subject.

Serbia & Royal Yugoslavia: www.royalfamily.org/history/medals.htm is the part of the official website of the Royal Family of Serbia’s website showing orders and medals of Serbia and Yugoslavia from 1903.

Sweden: www.royalcourt.se shows orders and medals under the Swedish Monarchy section

BOOKS
Anyone searching for rare or out of print books should be aware of the brilliant site www.bookfinder.com which we have used to locate and buy many such treasures. For finding French language books, www.galaxidion.com is excellent.

General

Orders and Decorations of Europe in Color by Paul Hieronymussen, published by Macmillan, 1967. Hardbound, 256 pages, colour and black & white illustrations.
An inexpensive and very helpful introductory guide to European orders and decorations (but not medals).

Guide des Ordres, Décorations et Médailles Militaires 1814-1963 by André Souyris-Rolland, published by Public-Réalisations, 1979. Hardbound, 136 pages, colour and black & white illustrations. French language.
An excellent general introduction; masses of illustrations and a structured text for each decoration make this a useful book, even for those who find French a challenge.

Guide des Ordres Civils Français et Etrangers, des Médailles d’Honneur, des Médailles de Sociétés by André Souyris-Rolland, published by Préal-Supcam, 1979. Softbound, large format, 145 pages, colour and black & white illustrations. French language.
The companion volume to the previous work, focusing on civil orders, medals of honour and also decorations from the United Nations, Red Cross, Life Saving, Shooting, Mutual Assistance and Veterans Societies. Much of the material here is hard to find elsewhere.

Guide des Ordres et Décorations de la Résistance te de la Libération, 2e Guerre Mondale by André Souyris-Rolland and Gérard Le Marec, published by Public-Réalisations, 1985. Hardbound, 136 pages, colour and black & white illustrations. French language.
Covers the decorations of every country that issued them to mark the resistance during and liberation after the Second World War. The illustrations and form of the text make this a useful book, even for non-French speakers.

Austria
Orden und Ehrenzeichen der Osterreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie by Václav Mericka, published by Verlag Anton Schroll & Co., 1974. Hardbound, 304 pages, colour and black & white illustrations. German language.
Comprehensive with many fine illustrations of very high quality.

Die Ehrenzeichen und Medaillen des Osterreichischen Roten Kreuzes, 1914-2004 by Walter Schwarz, published by the Osterreichische Gesellschaft für Ordenskunde, 2004. Softback, 96 pages, colour and black & white illustrations. German language.
Illustrated exhibition catalogue of decorations of the Austrian Red Cross.

Brazil
Medalhas e Condecorações by, and published by, the Serviço de Documentação Geral. of the Ministro da Marinha, 1983. Hardbound, 67 pages, colour and black & white illustrations. Brazilian Portuguese language.
Covers all the naval decorations of Brazil from independence early in the 19th Century; with many excellent illustrations.

Bulgaria
БЪЛГАРСКИ ОРДЕНИ, МЕДАЛИ И (Bulgarian Orders and Medals) by Professor Petko Pavlov, 2002. Hardbound, large format, 360 pages, excellent colour images throughout. Bulgarian and English languages.
Comprehensive serious, detailed and beautiful. Unlikely ever to be surpassed.

Croatia
Odlikovanja i Znakovlje Nezavisne Države Hrvatske 1941-1945 by Borna Barac & Siniša Pogacic, published by OBOL naklada, 1998. Softbound, 195 pages, colour and black & white illustrations. Croat, English & German languages.
Comprehensive, with insignia included. Good colour illustrations.

Denmark
Danish Orders and Medals by Captain P. J. Jørgensen in association with Kai Meyer, published privately in Copenhagen, 1964. Softbound,124 pages, black & white illustrations.
A valuable work in an area where very little literature exists.

Estonia
Eesti Teenetemärgid by Hannes Walter, published by Miniplast Pluss, 1998. Hardbound, 396 pages, colour and black & white illustrations. Estonian with English captions.
A comprehensive book; useful - but the language is a challenge.

France
Ordres et Décorations de France, direction Michel Droit, illustrations Eric Droit, published by Editions du Grand Rond, 1982. Leather-bound, large format in a slipcase, 408 pages, colour throughout. French language.
Not just a comprehensive survey of the orders and medals but an historical narrative with portraits, newspaper cuttings, documents, photographs and other supporting material. Splendid.

Décorations Officielles Françaises published by the Administration des Monnaies et Médailles, 1956. Hardbound, large format, 292 pages, colour and black & white illustrations. French language
It has the detail and authority one would expect and the standard of colour illustrations is remarkable for the date (Printed by the Imprimerie Nationale).

Greece
The Orders, Medals and History of Greece by Prince Dimitri Romanoff, published by Balkan Heritage, 1987. Hardbound, 224 pages, colour and black & white illustrations.
An excellent brief history with a comprehensive survey of its orders and medals.

Hungary
Katonai Kitüntetések a Magyar Történelemben by Kenyeres Dénes, published by Kecskemét, 2004. Softbound, 356 pages, colour and black & white illustrations. Hungarian language.
The illustrations are many but not of great quality and the Hungarian language is certainly a challenge but the book is comprehensive up to the present day.

Italy
Le Medaglie Italiane negli ultimi 200 anni by Alessandro Brambilla, 2 vols, published privately,1985 and 1997. Hardback, line drawings throughout. Italian language.
The ultimate authority. We hear exciting rumours of a full colour edition coming.

Japan
Orders and Medals of Japan and Associated States, Third Edition, by James W. Peterson, published by The Orders and Medals Society of America, 2000. Hardbound, 178 pages, colour and black & white illustrations.
The definitive work on the subject; the third edition has many colour illustrations in addition to the black and white.

Latvia
Apbalvojumi Latvijas Republika 1918-1940 by Kristine Ducmane, published by Latvijas Enciklopedija, 1993. Hardbound, 112 pages, colour and black & white illustrations. In Latvian with translations and captions also in English, French, German and Russian.
The best (only?) work on the subject. Colour illustrations are not of high quality but there is interesting attention to design, much of which was innovative.

Lithuania
Lietuvos Ordinai, Medaliai ir Ženkeliai 1918-1940 by Algimantas Astikas, published by Mintis, 1993. Hardbound, 400 pages, colour and black & white illustrations. Lithuanian language.
Although the book is in Lithuanian and the colour illustrations are not high quality or particularly numerous, the book is comprehensive and definitive, including insignia as well as orders and medals.

Malta
Ordensinsignien und Auszeichnungen des Souveränen Malteser-Ritterordens by Heinz Kirchner & Georg von Truszczynski , published by Malteser_Hilfsdienst e. V. , 1974. Sofbound, 88 pages, colour and black & white illustrations. German language.
Comprehensive; with very high quality illustrations.

Monaco
Ordres et Decorations Monegasques by Jacques Guiraud-Darmais, published by the Archives du Palais Princier of Monaco, 1985. Sofbound, large format, 114 pages, colour and black & white illustrations. French language.
Comprehensive guide to the few Monegasque orders and medals; excellent colour illustrations and details of the ordinances of each decoration.

Montenegro
The Orders, Medals and History of Montenegro by Prince Dimitri Romanoff, published by Bent Carlsens Forlag, 1980. Hardbound, 96 pages, colour and black & white illustrations.
An excellent brief history of Montenegro with an authoritative survey of its few but fascinating orders and medals.

Netherlands
Orders and Decorations of the Netherlands by H. G. Meijer, C. P. Mulder & B. W. Wagenaar, published privately, 1984. Softbound, large format, 214 pages, colour and black & white illustrations.
Comprehensive and authoritative.

Poland
Décorations et Ordres Polonais by Wanda Bigoszewska, published by Editions Interpress, undated. Hardbound, small format, 140 pages, colour illustrations. French language.
Helpful and comprehensive, even if the colour illustrations are garish by today’s standards.

Romania
Decoratii Românesti de Razboi 1860-1947 by Ion Safta, Rotaru Jipa, Tiberiu Velter and Floricel Marinescu, published by Editura Universitaria Bucuresti, 1993. Softbound,170 pages, illustrated in colour. In Romanian, English, French and German languages
It is not encyclopaedic, nor are the colour illustrations of fantastic quality but it invaluable on the subject.

Russia
The Orders, Medals and History of Imperial Russia by Prince Dimitri Romanoff, published by Balkan Heritage, 2000. Hardbound, 224 pages, colour and black & white illustrations.
A brief history and a comprehensive survey of its orders and medals. Many images are from the collections of the State Hermitage and thus extremely useful for comparative research. And it is written by a Romanoff.

Serbia & Royal Yugoslavia
The Orders, Medals and History of the Kingdoms of Serbia and Yugoslavia by Prince Dimitri Romanoff, published by Balkan Heritage, 1996. Hardbound, 192 pages, colour and black & white illustrations.
An excellent brief history with a comprehensive survey of its orders and medals.

South America
South American Decorations and War Medals by Harold E. Gillingham, published by the American Numismatic Society, 1932 and reprinted by Lenard L. Babin, 1970.
Softbound, 178 pages, black & white illustrations.
This small paperback is, so far as we know, the only book on the subject; fortunately it is a good one, though obviously dated. Irritatingly, Mr Babin who reprinted the book, saw fit to make his name more prominent on the cover and title page than that of the book or the author.

Spain
Ordenes y Condecoraciones de España 1800-1975 by José Manuel Pérez Guerra, published by Hermanos Guerra, 2000. Hardbound, large format, 416 pages, excellent colour images throughout. Spanish language.
Even the reader who does not speak Spanish will find the images so numerous and of such high quality that they will turn to this book whenever researching a Spanish decoration.

Turkey
Osmanli Madalyalari ve Nisanlari by Metin Erüretin, published by DMC, 2001. Hardbound, large format, 384 pages, excellent colour images throughout. Turkish language with English captions.
Comprehensive serious, detailed and beautiful. It is hard to believe this book will ever be bettered. A real achievement.

CLEANING AND POLISHING PRODUCTS
The short answer is ‘don’t do it!’ As with many historic art and artefacts, orders and medals develop a marvellous patina with the passage of time. Zealous cleaning and polishing very often does far more harm than good. Any polish will be abrasive and damage surfaces. Metals such as silver that tend to discolour through oxidisation may be safely cleaned using electrolysis.