This book was for my son. He really enjoys the pictures and the text. He received several "gun"
books for Christmas and this is one of his favorites.

Received product quickly and in the condition noted. I will order from them again.

Was a gift for thrilled husband ... he plans to paint some of the guns from the excellent photographs. Of curse, it will cost a fortune to have them all framed!

this reveiw of history's firearms has one glaring ommision. the glock was not the first polymer framed handgun, however it was a major leap forward in the world of guns. hecklern and koch did it first, but glock made the concept of polymer frame usable and affordable.
in addition to the lack of glocks, i also disliked the tone of some of his articles.

note: his book, the gun: a visual history, does include mention of the G17.

This book was a gift for Christmas for my grandson. He said he likes it very much. He called me in Arizona to thank me for it, I figure it is what he wanted. I guess it's fine. As long as he's happy, that's all I care.

The photos are great! There was little information to really tell about each gun pictured.

The photos are great! There was little information to really tell about each gun pictured.

I have been learning a lot about modern handguns, and I wanted a book that would give me some history of guns, how their operation has evolved, and an overview of the types of handguns in existance. This book is definitely interesting and fun to flip through, and has some great photos. I liked the photos of the older flint-lock pistols, pepperbox revolvers, and guns of the old-west. Some of the oddities were especially interesting, including the Japanese sword-gun (not a bayonet, but a full-size sword with a handle that was a gun). Also, I liked the WWII Liberator, made by GM to be cheap, easy to build, and to dropped in mass on Germany for partisans to get. However, I felt the book was lacking in a few key areas. I understand that the author can't possibly include every gun ever. But why are there so many examples of home-made guns throughout the years, and no entry for the Glock? The Glock was a revolutionary gun, with an interesting history of unknown Gaston Glock with no gunmaking experience making a gun for the Austrian army that bucked much conventional thinking regarding guns. Who would think a plastic frame would make a reliable gun? Now, every gun store you go into is packed with Glocks, and it is the favorite sidearm of many LEOs including police and FBI. Most CCW books I read recommend the Glock. Half the new guns I see today are essentially Glock copies (Springfield XD, Steyr, S&W SW, etc). The only mention of the Glock in this book is in a side-panel about SWAT teams, where it mentions that SWAT teams use Glocks among other weapons.

This book was an interesting read, but I wonder what criteria the author picked for each gun he included. I would have also liked more diagrams, showing how each gun works and the progression of various styles of gun. I give the book 4 stars since it was fun to flip through, and makes a good coffee table book, but for serious study of firearm history, you might need to go elsewhere.