ILLUSTRATED BOOK OF GUNS: An Illustrated Directory of Over 1,000 Military and Sporting Firearms

I found this a really stunning intro into the world of guns and gunsmithing. Everything is completely clear, and the excellent illustrations mean that even the non-expert can really enjoy the book andget the most from the author's clear and concise information. I would certainly recommend the book to anyone with an interest inthis field.

This is a VERY comprehensive book which runs the gamut from early firearms up to and including (most of) the modern arms found today in sport or military usage. The photos are first rate, as are the descriptives at the beginning of each chapter. I can overlook the typos (frequent as they might be) in favor of the sheer history of featured weapons, such as the guns of the old west, and the civil war era. The book is also sectioned off into pistols/revolvers, rifles/shotguns, submachine guns, light machine guns, and heavy machine guns. Most every country that manufactures these firearms is covered, although some glaring omissions are present, most notably the Walther P99 auto pistol. Since this volume came out in 2000, it would defy logic that this weapon would NOT be included, since it's appearance in 1998-1999. Still, this is a nice addition to ANY coffee table (or bookshelf), and is well worth the paper it's printed on.

Great illustrated text of the history and details of famous firearms. Although this is not an all inclusive list of firearms it has all of the historical as well as technical innovative firearms of the world, my only complaint is its grouping of firearms by country. This is now one of my favorite books to add to my more technical books on firearms.

Over 1000 firearms (handguns, shotguns, rifles, and machine guns) are described in the 304 pages of this large, coffee-table size book. Each description has an excellent photo of the firearm and a thorough description of it, including its history. Almost all of the important small arms from 1800 to the present are described. The quality of the writing, photos, and presentation is excellent.