Firearms An Illustrated History

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.

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.

An encyclopedic look at firearms.

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.

The development of the pistol helped bring the age of the armored knight to an end, provided the elite with a status symbol of dangerous glamour, and inspired both artisans and industrialists to reach new heights of invention. * Provides complete technical details of exemplary pistols from the first working models to the present * In-depth coverage of the three major pistol designs—single-shot, revolver, and automatic—and their production and issuance in the United States, Europe, and Asia

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.

This significant tome, with over 1500 photographs, covers the subject of portable firearms from muzzle-loaders to machine guns; from revolvers to machine pistols; from muskets to automatics; from derringers to submachineguns. Compiled by experts whose hands-on knowledge and skill comes over in text and captions, The Illustrated History of Firearms provides a visual reference book to grace any aficionado’s library.

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.

Charts the evolution of the gun, from the pistol and rifle, to the machine gun and revolver.

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.

Profiles more than one thousand gun models, including antiques, military weapons, and others, providing color photos, technical specifications, and details on their origins, performance, and use.

A guide to the history of firearms and guns. It charts the evolution and history of the gun, from the pistol, flintlock musket and rifle to the shotgun, machine gun and revolver.

From the invention of the first handgun, miniature and special designs have been created to aid concealment and increase the element of surprise. This history shows the ingenuity of users and manufacturers, recounting both successes and failures.

An illustrated survey of the guns that influenced the pioneering era.

A firearms expert “traces the history of the ‘one hand gun’ from its 14th century origins . . . surveying changing technology, techniques, and design” (Midwest Book Review). Ideally suited for both attack and self-defense, handguns have gotten smaller and deadlier. But the earliest pistols had a tendency to misfire. This was cured by the cap-lock, which proved a massive success in the American Civil War, with hundreds of thousands of cap-lock revolvers used on each side. Self-contained metal-case cartridges were to bring a fundamental change to handgun design: not only by allowing the introduction of revolvers that ejected automatically or were easily reloaded, but also by paving the way for the automatic pistol. World War I provided the handgun with a proving ground. At the end of the hostilities, with so much surplus weaponry, work on the handgun could have ceased; instead, a new developmental phase was begun by the nations that had emerged from the crumbling Imperial empires. During World War II, the efficiency of well-established designs was confirmed and new designs, such as the Walther P. 38, showed their potential. The emergence of the submachine-gun in 1945 reduced the status of the handgun—but only temporarily. The need for efficient self-defense shows no signs of lessening; and the rise in shooting for sport, particularly with the revolver, has sharpened the quest for efficiency. The never ending search for advanced production techniques shows that the handgun has as much a future in the twenty-first century as it had in the heyday of the Wild West, or in the trenches of Passchendaele.