Tom Davis Jr, having previously written on the history of the Thompson SMG in British WWII use, has recently released a buyer's guide to the Colt's Thompson SMG. This is not intended to be a history of the gun - although it does include some elements of that, like a remarkably thorough section on the semiautomatic 1927 model Thompson. Instead, this book is intended to be a buyer's guide to the world of the Colt Thompson. Or, as the subtitle says, "how to be an informed buyer in a very expensive market".

The market for a Colt's Thompson is, indeed, a very pricey one. Only 15,000 Thompsons were made by Colt, and they are the pinnacle of collectibility, much higher valued than the multitude of WWII production guns that would come afterward (to say nothing of West Hurley guns). What Davis' book does is describe in detail how to inspect a Colt's Thompson to determine what is right and what is wrong with it, prior to purchase. This is a task not really focused on by the other Thompson literature published, and this is definitely a book worth getting for anyone interested in joining the ranks of Thompson owners.

It's an expensive book for its size, at $50, but that's simply an appropriate introduction to the world of the Colt Tommy Gun. If you hesitate at that outlay, you should just drop any notion of buying one of the guns. Available through Amazon:

https://amzn.to/2JTtNsi