War Tax Stamps of the British Empire First World War - The West Indies, by J G M Davis.

Published by The Royal Philatelic Society London, 2009.  H/B, 400pp. 

A study of the ‘War Tax' overprinted stamps of the British West Indies issued during World War I.  For each colony, there is information on the first date of issue, reasons why the stamps were produced, how the tax was applied, numbers issued, and the amount of revenue generated.  The stamps and their printings, varieties, and errors are detailed, along with examples of covers, essays, proofs, and specimens.  Listings of the War Tax stamps found in the Royal Philatelic Collection and tables of De La Rue records are also included.  Illustrated in colour.

Philatelic Exporter review, courtesy of David Rennie (September 2010):

Whilst the meat of this volume is a detailed review of the stamps of each of the seventeen colonies in the area which issued these stamps, John first of all sets the scene with an initial chapter entitled "Why Britons Should Collect War Stamps - Lest we forget" This recalls the controversy in 1914 when Ewens were selling German stamps overprinted "Belgien" and the ripples and confusions thereafter in both Great Britain and France.  By February 1915 Canada had issued War Tax stamps and by November 1918 27 British Empire countries had issued these items, ostensibly by the surtax, to pay for the additional costs of the war in each colony, often associated with the raising of their own local regiments.

Chapter 2 deals with these, and also provides eleven tables showing who, when and where the issues took place, the overprint types, the "reasons" given for their introduction etc.

Three chapters then deal with Leeward Islands, the British Virgin Islands Plate, and the St Lucia Plate, which should be read before the seventeen following chapters, each dealing with a particular colony.

These follow similar patterns and provide exhaustive information on the circumstances of the issue, the printers and printings, the Specimen overprints, Essays, Proofs and Imperforate Proofs, the varieties not only of the War Tax overprints such as inverted, and double overprints, as well as bent of broken letters, but also watermarks etc, tables of quantities printed with requisition details, period of use, and also specific listings of the items in the Royal Philatelic Collection.

Additional chapters and Appendixes deal with Doctor Walter Hess and his covers; the De La Rue records including the Crown Agents Correspondence Book registers and others; the Passion for Collecting War Stamps which includes illustrations of early articles and catalogues, and finally the Crown Agents Label.  There is also a Bibliography and comprehensive Index.

John has had access to numerous collections, and has been assisted by many experts for particular countries, as shown in his "Acknowledgements" page. This is  a superb volume, produced to the usual high quality expected from the RPSL, lavishly illustrated; the whole in 400pp with dust jacket a book-mark tape.