The Encyclopedia of Weapons: From World War II to the Present Day [Hardcover]

Chris Bishop (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 9, 2006

Before James Bond made the Walther PPK a legend, it was used on the battlefields of WWII. Discover the legend and lore of all of the significant arms and artillery pieces since 1939 in this amazing illustrated Encyclopedia of Weapons.

Arranged in chronological order from 1939 onward, this easy-to-use encyclopedia organizes weapons into sub-categories for quick navigation. Categories include pistols, rifles, machine guns, field guns, heavy artillery, anti-aircraft guns, and even multiple rocket launchers.

This weapon-by-weapon account includes a description of each weapon's development and service record, illustrations and photographs, and a box of detailed technical specifications with both metric and imperial measurements. Additionally, this volume contains more than 900 full-color artworks as well as color and black-and-white photographs, including historical images.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Thunder Bay Press (October 9, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592236294
• ISBN-13: 978-1592236299
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 9.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #812,611 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Book Yet on Small Arms, October 20, 2007

By 

Leslie P. Kelley "The Lude" (Sharpsburg, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Encyclopedia of Weapons: From World War II to the Present Day (Hardcover)

I have read many books on small arms and this is the best. Unlike some books that are all specs or all pictures, this has a good blend of both, plus it contains entertaining and illuminating anecdotes about many of the weapons. The most popular weapons have extended treatments.

The pictures of the weapons are in color. Black and white pictures of the weapon in action accompany many of the articles. There are color drawings illustrating usage of some weapons. In a few important cases, there are detailed drawings showing parts. The book is intelligently organized with a good layout.

This is truly an encyclopedic work. It covers all of the models of each weapon, noting important differences. Origins of designs are given. Key specifications, such as caliber, weight, and rate of fire, are listed. Multiple country usage is indicated along with current usage, where relevant. Pros and cons of a weapon are often given, including production changes that either improved or degraded the weapon.

If you like military history or weaponry, you will find this an enjoyable book to read and a useful reference.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Decent Book But Watch Out For Flaws, October 9, 2008

By 

Ronald Griscom (Pennsauken, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Encyclopedia of Weapons: From World War II to the Present Day (Hardcover)

This is a decent book on weapons, if that is your interest, but take the information with a grain of salt. This title is loaded with flaws. As with other "Encyclopedia Of ..." books from this publishing house (a British firm), it is loaded with nationalistic bias. For example, any weapon designed by Great Britan is fantastic, any U.S. weapon is good but fragile, any German weapon is durable but over-designed and hard to manufacture and repair, and any Soviet weapon ( with the exception of the AK series)is poorly made, heavy junk.

As another reviewer points out, some of the photographs are misplaced or poorly captioned. An example of this is the section on the Barrett Light 50 sniper rifle; the photograph shown is of a different sniper rifle entirely. Surely, there must be photos of the two Barrett sniper rifles out there, considering their popularity with the U.S. Special Forces amd the U.S. Marine Corp in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Finally, one sentence in the book seemed to sum up the shoddy editing. In a discription of the FN 2000 modular assualt rifle, they discuss how the rifle comes with a 1.6 power scope, "large enough to help you aim, but not so large that you need both eyes shut to aim." BOTH EYES SHUT? You'd miss for sure, and so did this book. Buy it only because of the large number of weapons that it covers (from handguns to light artillery) but watch out for its accuracy.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice cover., June 12, 2008

By 

D. Menning "Dennis" (Sweden) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Encyclopedia of Weapons: From World War II to the Present Day (Hardcover)

Nice cover and an acceptable content. However, the data and the layout could be more detailed and better designed. The large book format is also a disadvantage when you look for a reference to use on a day-to-day basis. The most commonly used weapons are listed, but interesting details are missing and a more extensive list of weapons is desirable. Ok reference to start with, if you have no or limited knowledge within the area.