The Illustrated Directory of Modern American Weapons [Paperback]

David Miller (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2002

The United States Military has to be prepared for conflicts of every kind, from full-scale international war to battling terrorist enemies on the home front. This fact-filled directory describes and illustrates hundreds of weapons used by the U.S. armed forces, from small arms to battle tanks, artillery pieces, fighters and bombers, aircraft carriers, cruisers and destroyers, submarines, and strategic missiles. Each weapon is accompanied by action photography, detailed specifications, and expert commentary describing its development, service, and combat histories.

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Salamander Books (2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760313466
• ISBN-13: 978-0760313466
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 4.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,194,606 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Illustrated - Modern American Weapons, June 21, 2004

By 

Eduward du Bois (Europe) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Illustrated Directory of Modern American Weapons (Paperback)

This compact book for a fair price is nice lookup for anyone who what's to know a little more about all the weapons used by the US Army. The book contains many pictures and lots of interesting facts for each weapon system. Take for example the description of the daisy cutter (actually: BLU-82), the largest conventional bomb. It was all over in the news when the Afghanistan war was under way. If you read this nice booklet you will find that is not very new and actually an old bomb, already used in the Vietnam War. At that time it was used to create chopper-landing sites. The bomb leveled all the trees something that was other wise a dangerous and laborous job for the troops on the ground. I could find in the book all kinds of nice facts about all those other "CNN" weapon systems, the Predator drone, Hellfire missiles, Stinger rocket, M16 machine guns, and many more I never hearth off.
This book is certainly a value for money. But it is not perfect, because it contains no index or detailed contents, how weird!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well illustrated, March 20, 2003

By 

Bibliophile - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Illustrated Directory of Modern American Weapons (Paperback)

This handy volume is a pocket catalog of the latest American hardware. It's quite up-to-date, though I'm in no position to assess its accuracy or comprehensiveness.

The contents are as follow: Intro, Strategic Weapons Systems, Combat Aircraft, Support Aircraft, Special Electronic & Reconnaissance Aircraft, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Air-to-Air Missiles, Air-to-Surface Weapons, Surface Weapons, Submarines, Naval Weapons Systems, Tanks and Fighting Vehicles, Land Warfare-Indirect Fire Weapons, Land Warfare-Direct Fire Weapons, Air Defense Systems, Small Arms.

What this book lacks is an Index, and Sources and Bibilography.

A useful overview of the equipment of the most powerful military in the world. Have it by your side as you watch CNN.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MODERN AMERICAN WEAPONS, May 9, 2004

By 

K. Jump (Corbin, KY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Illustrated Directory of Modern American Weapons (Paperback)

Edited by David Miller, "The Illustrated Directory of Modern American Weapons" is a compact and fairly comprehensive guide to the wide range of sophisticated armaments available to the U.S. Armed Forces at the outset of the ongoing "War on Terror." As to be expected from MBI Publishing Company's "Illustrated Directory" military series, the book is well-stocked with informative, easy-to-read entries for every major weapons system along with over three hundred photographs, most of them of good quality. Specifactions cover such high-profile vehicles as the F-117 Nighthawk stealth bomber, the F-18 Hornet, Ohio-class nuclear sub, M1 main battle tank, and the Paladin self-propelled howitzer to the weapons they carry--like the Maverick air-to-surface missile and torpedoes--to the lighter but lethal small arms our ground troops rely on in melee, like the M16, M24 sniper rifle, and the M9 9mm pistol. This is almost certainly the most complete guide to American weapons currently available, and the price is unbeatable. Recommended to all military buffs or anyone who wants to know more about the tools our men and women in uniform rely on in the thick of battle.