Written by a technical expert who has fired many of the guns featured, this book includes wide and varied assemblage of weapons from each of the world’s major manufacturing countries. The Illustrated Directory series provide readers with a fully illustrated, comprehensive reference book packed with timelines, historical facts, and images designed to inform and excite. At 512 pages packed with information and photographs, this book is a necessary addition to any enthusiast's library. Complete with full specification table with each entry including type, origin, caliber, and size, The Illustrated Directory of Guns is the most ambitious and lavishly illustrated history of guns for the collector and enthusiast. It shows in clear, detailed photographs and text over 1500 guns with separate sections on Pistols, Revolvers, Rifles, Shotguns (military and sporting), Machine Guns, and Submachine guns. A few featured include: Remington Smith & Wesson Winchester Glock Vickers Mauser Browning Colt Beretta And more Organized A-Z by country and gunmaker's name, the book clearly shows the different types of gun which the world has used to hunt, wage war, break and defend its laws, hone its sharpshooting skills, and fire purely for the fun of it. The book also features an introduction on each section, which gives a brief history of the development of that particular kind of firearm.

Discusses twentieth century guns with full color photographs, and includes military and sporting guns, revolvers, shotguns, and machine guns from 1900 to 1999.

This fascinating visual account of firearms shows everything from the earliest cannons to modern weapons of war. It also highlights how gun technology and military tactics developed in tandem over time. Centuries ago, the Chinese discovered that if they put gunpowder and a projectile into a metal tube and ignited it, they could fire the projectile with enormous force. The first guns were born. Firearms: An Illustrated History showcases over 300 firearms including pistols, revolvers, rifles, shotguns, machine-guns, and artillery, each with annotated close-up photographs and details of their origins, barrel, and caliber. It details the use of the firearms, not just in the military but for sport, hunting, and law enforcement. This comprehensive volume traces the history of firearms, highlighting "turning points" such as the rifle with its parallel spiraled groves that could impart a spin to bullets making them fly straighter. It also showcases iconic firearms such as the Walther PPK self-loading pistol popularised in James Bond films. With information on the great gunsmiths including Beretta and Kalashnikov and a detailed guide to how guns work, Firearms: An Illustrated History is an essential purchase for everyone interested in guns and military history.

The United States Military has to be prepared for conflicts of every kind, from full-scale international war to battling terrorist enemies on the home front. This fact-filled directory describes and illustrates hundreds of weapons used by the U.S. armed forces, from small arms to battle tanks, artillery pieces, fighters and bombers, aircraft carriers, cruisers and destroyers, submarines, and strategic missiles. Each weapon is accompanied by action photography, detailed specifications, and expert commentary describing its development, service, and combat histories.

For the first time in paperback, a photographic history of civilization, as seen through the world's most deadly and fascinating firearms. The Illustrated History of Guns is a comprehensive look at the tools of battle. To craft this book, more than five hundred photographs of genuine specimens were specially commissioned from the six-thousand-piece collection of the Berman Museum of World History. The weapons featured span a period of close to four thousand years, ranging from Ancient Greece to World War II, and from the Crusades in Europe to the US Civil War. It features a wide array of diverse treasures, including the traveling pistols of Confederate president Jefferson Davis, a royal Persian scimitar with 1,295 rose-cut diamonds and rubies, and a single 11-carat emerald set in gold, first owned by Shah Abbas I of Persia and given in tribute to Catherine the Great. The Illustrated History of Guns also offers information on weapons innovators, including Alexander Forsyth, Eliphalet Remington, Samuel Colt, Sergei Mosin, the Mauser brothers, Hiram Maxim, John Browning, Richard Gatling, John T. Thompson, John Garland, Feodor Tokarev, Oliver Winchester, and Mikhail Kalashnikov. With unparalleled historical perspective and background on persons significant to the development and advancements of weapons technology or military strategy, The Illustrated History of Guns belongs on the shelf of every history buff and firearms enthusiast.

A visual historical reference to over 500 military, law enforcement and antique firearms from around the world with a fascinating history of small arms from the 14th century to the present day, comprehensive directories of small arms, full technical specifications and is illustrated with more than 550 photographs and artworks. This book features world's most important small guns from the medieval hand cannon and the matchlock handgun to the Luger P08 and today's FN P90 as well as famous small arms including the Colt .45, the Browning High-Power M1935, the Lanchester and the MP38 submachine gun. Included are specially commissioned color photographs and artworks, including cutaway diagrams to show internal components and gun operation. This complete guide is expertly written by leading professionals in their field.

Watch a 700-year history unfold, from the medieval "hand-gonne" to today's technologically advanced assault weapons. Discover how gun design influenced warfare, from the 15th century when the arquebus defeated swordsmen, to the 20th century when the submachinegun gave the military vastly increased firepower. Guns: A Visual History shows in unique visual detail on how gun design evolved. It features more than 300 iconic examples, including the military AK-47 assault rifle and the pistol used by many police forces - the Glock 17. Each weapon is shown in close up with details of its design, barrel, calibre, and firepower. This comprehensive volume also features sporting guns, anti-tank weaponry and concealed assassin spy guns, such as the umbrella gun that killed Georgi Markov in 1978. It takes you inside iconic firearm firms such as Biretta, Colt and Lee Enfield, and tells stories of infamous sharpshooters from Dick Turpin to Al Capone. Whether you collect firearms or enjoy field sports and military history, Guns: A Visual History is an unmissable reference title.

Showcasing more than 1,700 firearms in full color! From the earliest hand cannons dating back to 1350, to the finest sporting rifles of the 21st Century, this 2nd edition of The Illustrated History of Firearms covers them all. Spectacular, full-color photos of more than 1,700 guns with detailed captions walk readers through the background and development of virtually every type of firearm ever created, and the people who influenced their use and designs. More than a reference book, The Illustrated History of Firearms brings context to the role firearms have played in shaping world events while also charting the development of today's guns for self-defense, competition, recreation and hunting. Painstakingly researched by expert curators at the NRA National Firearms Museum in Fairfax, Virginia, this 320-page, hardbound work of art is as educational as it is beautiful. Whether you're an avid gun collector or shooter, a history buff, or simply want to better understand the seemingly countless types of firearms in today's world, this book is a must-have.

This authoritative volume reveals the remarkable history of the machine gun, with a country-by-country directory of 160 classic types.

World War 1 was a global military conflict. It began as a skirmish between Serbia and Austria-Hungary with the assassination of Arch Duke Ferdinand in June 1914 and was transformed into a European war when Germany declared war on Russia on August 1, 1914. The loss of life was unequalled, with some 8 million solders and more than 6 million civilians dying during four years of stagnant trench warfare and in failed attacks. It was the first time that many of the military technologies we now take for granted were seen, including aircraft, submarines and tanks. Yet, these were overshadowed by more established weapons such as machine guns, and artillery, the most lethal weapon of all. This visual encyclopedia looks at the key weapons used during the Great War. Each is listed chronologically within sections on the Army, Air Force and Navy. Each weapon features a brief history with a description on how it was used and key specifications, such as calibre, magazine, system, length, weight and muzzle velocity. The first section on Army Weapons features weapons used by the armies and infantry men, such as mortars, rifles and tanks. This is followed by Airforce Weapons and Airships, which includes bombers, fighter aircraft and Zeppelins. Finally Naval Weapons features the warships of Germany's Imperial Navy, the Royal Navy and the Allied powers' fleets, from the early battleships to more modern dreadnoughts and destroyers. From rifles, the main weapon used by British infantry men, to machine guns which needed four to six men to work them, and from tanks which were used for the first time during the battle of Somme to the new torpedo-boats whose main targets were the older battleships and more modern dreadnoughts, this is a detailed and fascinating guide to the military technologies developed during the First World War. Illustrated with more than 180 evocative contemporary photographs, the book will offer new insights for both general and specialist readers.