The World of Beretta: An International Legend

R.L. Wilson has assembled a handsome, well-researched volume on the world's oldest and most respected maker of firearms, Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta. Beretta stands out for its superb Italian craftsmanship, durable quality and design. Beretta's reputation has earned it respect and Beretta supplies the standard sidearm of the U.S. Armed Forces, which is the 9mm M9. Too me there are few things that surpass the exquisite aesthetic appeal of the Beretta pistol, except maybe a beautiful blue-eyed blonde. I'm a Beretta owner, and it's often to be expected that a man claims his possession to be best, but when I'm in the market for another gun, I'm not getting a Smith & Wesson or a Ruger, I'm getting another Beretta. These guns are tried and true. So, whether you're a collector of these fine firearms or just an admirer, I wholeheartedly recommend this informative, illustrated and history-filled volume on Beretta firearms. Some other reviewer scoffed that this is book is merely an effort to create "a mystique and romance" about Beretta, but Beretta has earned this after nearly 500 years. Wilson just captures the essence of the "mystique." Sure this book is a coffee table tome, but it is beautifully illustrated and fun to read and skim through! I give it 4.5/5.0 stars.

If you love all things Beretta, then you will appreciate this superb book. Wilson magically transports you through 475 years of history to Gardone, Val Trompia, Northern Italy, by way of some of the most delightful examples of the perfect blending of walnut, metal and handcrafted artistry.

It's beautifully illustrated and he relates many interesting and deliteful anocdotes about the Beretta family. Less attention is paid to the technical side, I do agree that Beretta firearms are uniformly of a high quality but Wilson's appaissels are uniformly glowing, fail to acknowledge some shortcomings (as gangarosa did) and are technically no more informative than the catalogs (which he excerpts from often). I read this book after reading Gene Gangarosa's Modern Beretta Firearms (which I also reviewed) and it compliments many of the shortcomings of the Gangarosa book. There is much more focus on their shotguns and sporting rifles. Unlike Gangarosa's book where Berettas are often talked about in relation to other inovations in firearms. Wilson's book is narrowly focused in talking only about Beretta products.The worst part about this book is when he talks about James Bond. It sounds like such a sales pitch because while he mentions that James Bond originally had a Beretta .25ACP pocket pistol he doesn't tell us what model (Model 418 which is out of production, perhaps the company wanted us to buy one of their fine current production pocket pistols?) and remarks that in the first movie Dr. No he had to replace it with "a .380 caliber semi-automatic pistol." Like he couldn't possibly say another companies name (he even gets it wrong, Bond had a Walther PPK in .32ACP). There are other technical innacuracies. Your best option as a fan is to buy both Wilson's (the human side and colourful history) and Gangarosa's (the more technical and firearms hobbiest oriented) book. This one is well written and might have been the definitive beretta book if Wilson had Gangarosa's in depth knowledge.Why is this book the more sales pitch and coffee table-like book? It would seem that that would more likely describe the Gangarosa book because it was published by Stoeger (which is owned under Beretta holdings). I would read another Gangarosa book because he writes more generally of firearms history, hobby, and innovation but Wilson's book is of interest only to the fan.