Firearms: An Illustrated History

Something of a coffee table picture book, which is not a bad thing. This book includes beautiful color pictures of small arms and artillery from matchlocks to modern firearms. I bought this book because I wanted some information about the change over from flintlock firearms to percussion cap weapons; this book answered my questions. For sure, it is a very useful reference work. Particularly beautiful are the pictures of the elaborately inlayed and engraved “Ottoman” rifles from the 17th and 18th centuries. Perhaps it’s nit picking, but I may as well point out a few of the books weaknesses. To begin with, the book was assembled with the expert assistance of four consultants. Three of the four are Brits; Henry, Rimer and Smithhurst. Now, I have nothing against our British friends and they are true experts in their field, but this does give a bias to the entries. American contributions to firearms design as well as descriptions of weapons of interest to American gun enthusiasts have been “thinned” a bit in favor of a more European bias. No doubt, an aspect of this issue is that there is a LOT of ground to cover, but that leads to my second criticism. The book includes artillery. This is surely interesting, but the focus could have been maintained on small arms; small arms alone is a plenty big enough subject area to cover and this would have allowed a more comprehensive treatment of the relevant area of primary interest. And the artillery entries are particularly thin, perhaps because the authors recognized that with this addition, they were wandering a bit out of the main subject area. Notable in being absent from comprehensive discussion are (in no particular order); the M16/AR-15. This is a true oversight as this weapon was ground breaking in the late fifties when it was originally developed. And it is also an excellent example of weapon’s modularity that has been an important development in small arms as they are now a mature technology. There is NO mention what-so-ever of Ronnie Barrett’s contributions to rifle (especially sniper rifle) technology. This is truly unfortunate as his interesting and intimidating rifles have made serious contributions on the modern battlefield. Gas seal revolvers are discussed (the Joseph-Lang; 1855) but little to no mention is made of probably the most famous gas seal revolver of them all; the Belgian designed Nagant. It would have been nice if some of the experts from the NRA National Firearms Museum could have been included on the consultants list. But perhaps that would have led to “too many cooks in the kitchen”. I don’t know. “Firearms: an Illustrated History” is a beautiful book and well worth owning. The subject of firearms is such a large subject area that perhaps is it inevitable that no one book could ever hope to cover everything.

This is a beautiful book loaded with historical info regarding firearms. If this is your thing, it’s worth every penny!

Even if you’re not a big fan of guns (like me), you’ll enjoy this book. Lots of excellent photos display the incredible ingenuity, craftsmanship and artistic embellishment of firearms throughout history. There’s a reason for the immeasurable time and effort devoted to them. “God create men and Sam Colt made them equal!” — Old West Adage Did you know that back in the day, dueling among gentlemen was so common that pistols came in sets (two identical, see pages 106&107) just for that purpose? This was an honorable way to assure there was no advantage. This realization lends to understanding of just how serious the subject of guns can be. The “Great Gunsmiths” write-ups that cover the influence and design history of various people throughout the book is very cool too. Basically, Firearms: An Illustrated History is an outstanding example of all that an excellent history book is.

Bought this for my husband who is a gunsmith. It was a very fascinating read. Tons of things I’ve never seen or heard about before. Definitely recommend to other gun fanatics.

I wasn't expecting such a heavy book but that is a good thing. It goes through old weapons to newer ones. Some are taken apart as well. As my brother is a gun lover but is autistic and can't read this was perfect. He doesn't need to worry about reading long arrivals and can focus on the guns themselves. It's also good for children you want to teach that aren't at reading level yet the respect guns need before taking them to hunt at a later age or simply due to guns in the house. Even just for a corner table decoration the large picture is sure to draw eyes. A good book I was hesitant to buy for the price but I'm glad I bought.

This is a great book that should provide any firearm enthusiast hours of enjoyment. The photography and illustrations are beautiful and detailed. I won't go into all the good things about this book because it would just repeat what others have said but I do have to mention something that is pretty funny. Although the book is very accurate for such a large and detailed effort, there are some minor errors. I'll just mention two that appear on a single page. On page 95, the text mentions that the Colt Single Action Army was introduced in 1973 and then goes on to say that, among who used that revolver were the "forty niners" of the gold rush. Think about that. After gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in January of 1948 the Gold Rush really took hold by 1949. Most historians define the gold rush as spanning the seven years from 1849 to 1856. Now, how could a forty-niner have a revolver introduced in 1873 Then, at the top of the same page, the text states that the Colt Single Action Army was introduced in 1863. I see errors like this as being funny unless there are too many of them. I am only through about 1/3rd the way through the book so I don't know how many, if any, errors are to follow but, so far, the book has been very accurate as far as I can tell with a couple exceptions like those mentioned above.

This is a very nicely made book, but I was disappointed that it completely glossed over the AR-15/M16 platform completely with only a brief mention and 2 photos where you can barley see the firearm. No mention of the progression to M4 carbines or SR-25, M110 rifles. These are iconic firearms and their extremely brief mentions or flat out omissions seem almost on purpose. The AK-47 platform gets a full 2 page layout, (which it should if not more). But Eugene Stoner's contributions get a few sentences and 2 awful photos. I have other great books in my collection that fill in that gap, but for a book that calls itself the "definitive guide" I find it shocking these firearms were left out. The book would also have been better served leaving out the artillery sections and maybe including some optics and sight examples.

I am very pleased with this transaction. Book is in very good condition. It was very well packaged and promptly shipped. An excellent vendor.

Great book for History buffs! My son and husband love looking and discussing with the book. So great.

As an avid fan of military history I have several volumes for reference and this is a real diamond. It covers pistols, rifles, light and heavy machine guns and artillery as well as the development of ammunition from black powder to self contained rounds. If you want a good solid starting point then you could do a lot worse than starting from here

Ótimo livro adorei

La coleccion DK es de las mejores. Gran calidad, excelente contenido y detalle fotografico sin igual. Muy recomendable. Gran libro de referencia.

Excellently researched and very interesting