Using history as a backdrop, author Craig Gottlieb offers a study of Gau Ehrenzeichen, or District Honor Badges. Although useful both as the first-ever collector s manual devoted exclusively to the subject, this study can also help historians understand the formative years of the National Socialist German Worker s Party (NSDAP) between 1923 and 1939. Drawing on his knowledge not only of the artifacts themselves, but on a keen understanding of the period, Gottlieb offers a unique view into the pre-war history of Nazi Germany. Using never-before-published photos and drawing from private archives of original specimens of every badge and corresponding award document, Gottlieb answers two important questions: what is a Gau Ehrenzeichen, and why are they relevant to understanding Hitler s rise to power?