LEGO Star Wars: The Essentials

Any good collector of self-respecting LEGO Star Wars sets or minifigs must have the documentation essential to their passion close at hand. Here is a non-exhaustive list of some books you need to have to learn, document and more simply feed your culture in terms of LEGO.

The book which will allow you to better understand the origins of brick and its evolutions over time is undoubtedly The LEGO® Book edited by Dorling Kindersley.
Released in 2009, this richly illustrated book retraces over 296 pages the history of LEGO from the creation of wooden bricks to the most recent video games drawn from the various licenses.
It is fueled by many anecdotes and will allow you to become unbeatable on the LEGO world. In addition, this work in English comes with a second booklet entitled "Standing small" entirely dedicated to minifigs. He is available for a little less than 30 euros on Amazon.

The one no longer presented is also edited by Dorling Kindersley. LEGO® Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary is undoubtedly the most popular book about the LEGO Star Wars universe.
Released in 2009 and with only 96 pages, it comes with an exclusive minifigure commonly called "Celebration Luke". It takes up most of the genesis and development of the LEGO Star Wars range with a lot of information and anecdotes essential to all fans of this universe. The photos are of high quality and the set is a real collector's item . It is still available for a little over 16 euros on Amazon.

Echoing the previous work, DK has just published in 2011 a new work of more than 200 pages entitled LEGO® Star Wars Character Encyclopedia which this time brings together the main minifigs of the LEGO Star War range and their different variants in the form of encyclopedic files.
The layout is neat, and the English text easy to read even if you are not bilingual. The book comes with an exclusive minifig coming to be associated with that of the previous book, this time representing Han Solo decorated with his medal as Luke in the Visual Dictionary. Available for a price ranging from 14 to 17 euros on Amazon depending on the source (US / UK).

It is not strictly speaking a book but it has the form and the presentation, the book LEGO® Star Wars Brickmaster released in 2010 is also a must-have for any good collector.
Delivered with 240 parts and two minifigs, this book is in fact a set allowing to assemble different vehicles (8 different models in total) and whose pages contain above all the assembly instructions. They are well illustrated and make this book a pleasant product to consult. Available for just over 22 euros on Amazon.

Fans of custom minifigs or wishing to embark on this activity requiring precision and patience will turn to the ultimate 84-page book dedicated to customization. Richly documented, you will need to master English to make the most of the advice given through the pages.
This is the book  Minifigure Customization: Populate Your World! published by TwoMorrows Publishing and sold barely more than 7 euros on Amazon.

Now we come to a rather controversial book titled:  The Unofficial Lego Minifigure Catalog. Bringing together images of over 3600 minifigs released between the 1970s and 2010, this 390-page book is primarily intended as a visual catalog.
Each minifig is decked out with some information about its release date, the sets that contain it, etc ... Interesting for hardcore minifig collectors, but useless for the average AFOL who will find the same resources on the Internet via Bricklink, Brickset and a few others. This book is sold way too expensive for my taste: more than 60 euros at Amazon.

Finally, a book also acting as a "dictionary":  LEGO® Collector - 2. Edition is a repository that will appeal to all LEGO fans and edited by Fantasia Verlag. The book itself is nice, but it is neither a "bible", nor an encyclopedia as I have seen some people get carried away on this subject on various forums.

This is simply a compendium of all of LEGO production since 1949 illustrated with pretty photos, and some key information about each set (year of production, number of pieces and rating based on assumed rarity ( Not always very realistic)). We are far from the Universalis or the New Testament anyway….
A key ring without interest is offered with. Available for just over 25 euros on Amazon.

If you feel like it, you can also find out about other books on the LEGO theme, including the new LEGO® Ideas Book published by DK sold almost 20 euros on Amazon, as well as the slew of sticker books on the Star Wars theme: LEGO® Star Wars Villains Ultimate Sticker Book, LEGO® Star Wars Heroes Ultimate Sticker Book,  LEGO® Star Wars Minifigures Ultimate Sticker Collection, LEGO® Minifigure: Ultimate Sticker Collection, etc ....