Guns Books

John Ellis has written a masterful work on how technology changes the battlefield; in this case, it is the machine gun. The machine gun had been in existence since the Civil War in the form of the Gatling gun, mounted on a carriage similar to a small field artillery piece. Around the 1890's it had gone through several improvements until it looked similar to the ones we use today which are bipod mounted, belt fed and easy to maneuver with on the battlefield. The machine guns first use in this form all be it on a smaller scale was in the Russo Japanese War of 1905. Every major country in the world had military observers attached to both sides of the conflict and they all wrote in their official reports about its effective use by the Japanese on the battlefield. When WWI starts in August 1914, only the Germans have produced a prodigious amount of machine guns during the nine years since the Russo Japanese War. They had men trained as machine gunners as a specialty in infantry tactics and had assigned billets in each company for machine gunners. It seems as thought the Allied Powers had either ignored, or did not read the reports from the Russo Japanese War and where behind technologically, logistically and operationally in machine guns. To give one example of the muddleheaded thinking of the stodgy French generals; in the French military academy and in their training manuals they still advocated the "spirit of the bayonet", touting it to be the weapon that would inflict the maximum amount of casualties in the next war.

Needless to say at the beginning of the war all those poor French soldiers ordered over the top of the trenches by their incompetent generals to march with their rifles mounted with fixed bayonets through no mans land to storm the German trenches were mowed down by the voluminous and accurate German machine gun fire. There are diaries of German machine gunners stating how after a while they could not continue to fire into the advancing French line because the carnage was too much for them to take! After a few attacks the Allies learned their lesson and feverishly scrambled to incorporate the machine gun in their battle plans. The Germans managed to hold onto the technological edge throughout the war in machine gun technology until we showed up with the Browning .30 caliber machine gun near the end of the war. By the way, we did not have much in the way of machine guns when we showed up late in 1917 and were using inferior French machine guns that we bought at a premium price. They being cheaply made they had a nasty tendency to jam easily when they came in contact with the least little bit of mud or dirt, just the thing for trench warfare.

I am fond of telling school kids that come to the Virginia War Museum where I am a docent that the Viet Nam War Memorial wall contains the names of 55,000 American soldiers who died in that conflict in a nine-year period. The Allied forces in 1916 in the battle of the Somme lost over 60,000 men in the first day when they attacked the German trenches! Of course, not just the machine gun, but field artillery technology had also outstripped the generals understanding of modern warfare. This was the great lesson militarily of WWI. Generals and political leaders not fully grasping the advances in weaponry and using outmoded tactics from the last conflict to fight this new war.

As a retired Army officer, I recommend this book for military, political professionals and for philosophers.

This is a unique book. John Ellis has written more than a technical history of the machine guns, a weapon which has really revolutionized the battlefields and the military world. Mr. Ellis tells us a story about the resilience of customs, practices and traditions, in spite of the fact that the material reality that once enabled these customs and practices to thrive have already gone away. The 19th Century's officers and commanders were accustomed to thinking in terms of human intrepidity and courage as the most important attributes to carry the day in the battlefields. Machine guns were the first specific application of the technique and logic of the industrial revolution in military combat. Firing an inordinate stream of bullets, machine guns came to be the definitive symbols of the machine age in military history, regardless of marksmanship or easy targets. Nevertheless, ingrained beliefs die hard. The militaries in all major powers continued to cling to the idea of the irreplaceability of the infantry and cavalry charges, with bayonets, swords and lances, as the final judge of victory or defeat in military matters. In this sad tale about the final triumph of the material conditions against an ideal and constructed world, there would not be any place for happy endings. Archaic tactics and a longing for offensives, on the one hand, plus the continued production of more powerful and improved machine guns, on the other, set the backdrop for the appalling bloodbaths of the First World War, like Gallipoli, Verdun and the Somme. This is a book that will please not only social scientists or scholars, but also anyone with an interest in this topic (First World War, military matters and gun history) with a sophisticated taste for reading and studying. It is important to mention also the dozens of wonderful pictures and drawings that illustrates all the book, which give the reader enhanced pleasure.

Mr. Ellis has written a most unusual book. His thesis contends that the invention of the machine gun and the failure of the military to recognize it significance in the decades leading up to WWI, considering it useful only against tribesmen and other "primitives", led directly to the horrific slaughter of WWI and the static warefare of the trenches. He looks in depth at the military subculture of Victorian England and how it was incapable of recognizing the significance of the machine gun-and those who attempted to place the weapon into the British Army's scheme of things were sanctioned and gagged. When we finally get to the chapter on WWI it is akin to reading one of Shakespear's tragedies. The inevitability of the butchery is made all that more terrible by the knowledge that the deliberite myopia of the British and French higher command ensured that their troops used outmoded tactics against emplaced German forces and their Maxim guns. The author gives one case where two German machine guns annihilated a six-hundred man British infantry battalion in the space of a couple of hours with no casulties sustained by the Germans. In other words six German soldiers killed and wounded hundreds. The final chapter covers the years following WWI as well as the role of the weapon in movies of all things. Some might disagree with Mr. Ellis, that the invention of one device could be responsible for such sweeping changes in both social and military circles is unrealistic, but Mr. Ellis presents a very skillfull work that states just that. If you are looking for a technical history of the machine gun then this book isn't for you, but if you are curious about the impact that the industrial revolution has made on humanity then this book will be a fascinating read.

This is a great book of historical sampler patterns. They are real samplers usually done by children, so they aren't the most complex cross-stitching you'll ever do, but they make for great patterns and you can make endless variations and personalizations of them. The historical accuracy makes this a very interesting glimpse into a few select moments in time, too. I'm a big fan of the sparseness and simplicity of traditional samplers and I will be using this book for years. The layout is great too - the patterns are very easy to follow.

I thought this book paled in comparison to Brenda Keye's other book, The Sampler Motif Book.....I ended up giving it away....

This is Brenda Keyes 5th book and as motivating as the other 2 I have. Twenty samplers are featured, with many smaller samplers, inspired by a wide range of antique motifs. There is a sharp color photo of each sampler, many in room settings. They are stitched beautifully on linen and Aida, in bright complementary colors, suited for beginning to advanced stitchers. Samplers are well displayed, framed and matted using inspirational methods and materials. Charts are in color, and black and white, and are very easy to follow. There is an added assortment of 10 alphabets for personalizing samplers with initials and dates. Framing methods are suggested, cleaning stretching, use of acid-free materials and charting your own designs are explained. I look forward to stitching my own samplers from this collection inspired by antiques that our ancestors put great effort in creating.

NOTE: This review, along with the other reviews of the books devoted to the various ITF (International Tae Kwon Do Federation) hyungs, forms, or katas in this series, is identical in nature, as the subject matter for each book only differs in the actual hyungs or forms being demonstrated. The layout and format are identical and that is what these reviews are based upon.

This book, along with the rest of the books in the series, is an outstanding source of information on the correct execution of the ITF Tae Kwon Do hyungs in which this particular volume demonstrates. Now if you don't know anything about Tae Kwon Do and purchase this book, it will do you about as much good as a screen door in a submarine. However, if you are already a practicing ITF, or similar style, Tae Kwon Do student, then this book is a must have for your continued advancement in the martial arts.

Every book in this series that deal with the various hyungs, utilizes the same format throughout each book in order to show you the correct execution of each kata demonstrated. Admittedly there aren't a whole lot of words describing the various moves in the hyungs, but there are an abundance of photographs taken from various angles that pretty much show you exactly how your body should be positioned not only for each individual move, but also how your body should be positioned as you move from one position to another.

This book also demonstrates the moves in each kata to its application against an actual opponent, which is a nice addition to this already wonderful book.

If you are a student of ITF Tae Kwon Do, or a student of another style that utilizes the same hyungs, I would highly recommend that you purchase these books in order to advance your knowledge of whatever particular hyungs or forms that you are currently working on. You won't be disappointed!

Shawn Kovacich
Martial artist/Author of the Achieving Kicking Excellence series.

These are the second two forms that one learns in traditional TKD. I bought the book when I was still on Chon-Ji and it helped prepare me for wht I needed to know. This is a great series of book for students of traditional TKD.

This book is second of a 5-part series, and covers two of the nine major forms of Tae Kwon Do: Tan Gun and To San. It not only provides an overview of the entire form, but breaks down each form into each individual move, complete with a written description, 5 views of the move, and a photo showing the application of the move against an assailant. (The photos are dated, but since retro fashion is in, it looks kind of hip.) It also shows combination attacks and self-defense techniques. The pictorial glossary (English and Korean) is very handy, as well. Jhoon Rhee himself is the demonstrator in the photos.

"Thompson: The American Legend," by Tracie Hill and several other contributing authors documents the development, production, and history of all models of Thompson Submachine Guns, (including BSA's), as well as Thompson Autorifles with narrative content and hundreds of pictures. This is a very detailed work that spans much of the extensive information that Thompson collectors seek. Prototype guns, magazines, drums, and many accessories including web gear, cases, tools, manuals, ammunition, etc., are shown and referenced in detail. The history of the gun in the hands of law enforcement and gangsters, as well as its WWII use is covered. It also shows many examples of Hollywood use through the years. This is the first book I would recommend a Thompson enthusiast to acquire.

After purchasing a half-dozen other books published by Collector Grade I was eager to receive this book. Collector Grade books have a reputation for being extremely detailed containing more information than one could ever want to know about a particular firearm. I was somewhat disappointed with this book and I feel that it just does not meet the level of detail or quality of the other books by this publisher.
The book is extremely unorganized. It starts out with information about development of the Thompson, jumps into early .30 caliber Thompson rifle design and detail about the Blish lock. It then covers early prototypes including the Model 1919. Then it takes a huge detour into the history of smuggling of Thompsons into Ireland by the IRA, and the IRA use of the Thompson in the 20th century. Finally you arrive at the chapter on the Model 1921, which briefly describes that gun. It then goes into another foray into development of the Thompson for aircraft and other experimental Thompsons. Large sections of the book are dedicated to the use of the Thompson in movies and fiction. Information about the extremely significant WW2-version M1A1 is very limited and almost an after-thought. The technical information is just an incomplete mish-mash of blueprints for the 1928 and M1A1, with very little information about the construction process of the Thompson. Compared to the Technical sections in the Collector Grade books about the K98k Mauser, M1 Carbine or Sten I was very disappointed. The section on the Thompson accessories is actually quite good and contains some good information and photographs.
Almost HALF of the book contains a listing of EVERY SINGLE Model 1921 Thompson (ALL 15,000 of them, serials 42 to 15,042). It felt to me like this was filler. Though interesting, I found it not particularly useful. I felt that the serial number information could have been abbreviated or offered in a seperate publication.
Overall, this book contains information that is useful to any Thompson collector or enthusiast. However, the orginization is awful and the information is in many ways incomplete.

This is the greatest book ever on the classic American submachine gun. Every model, prototype, variation, etc. and everything you always wanted to know about the Thompson submachine gun is here. Hundreds of photos, articles by a dozen or so leading authorities on the tommy gun and its development (too late to see service as a World War I "trench broom" as creator Gen. John T. Thompson envisioned it) colorful history in peace and war, use and misuse on both sides of the law (Tracie Hill's original title was "On the Side of Law and Order"; this was also Thompson's original motto--to market the weapon to law enforcement and also offset the gun control nuts--we even had 'em back then!) and revamped resurrection as the classic GI machine gun of World War II. It's all here: the Thompson and its technical, social, political, cops & robbers, military and even movie history. Thompson collectibles. Plus about the best ever account of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre!

The novelization of the movie was pretty good, except for when it came to the flight scenes. Unfortunately, in this area the book was seriously lacking, as Cogan had the pilots dogfighting past the sound barrier, pulling right-angle turns, and he kept mislabling and incorrectly titling aircraft. At one point, for three pages, he has Jester flying an A-5. No such creatureexists. He has the pilot call their aircraft F Fourteens or F Fives, thy are F-14s and F-5s. The missiles are also wrong. He calls noe the A 1 M9S Sidewinder. The sidewinder is the AIM-9S. Other than these things that make it obvious Cogan was never a pilot, the book is very good every time they are on the ground.

I read "Top Gun" after seeing the movie. I found that I enjoied this book, just as much as I enjoyied the movie. It is well written.

This is a great book that is based on the 1986 hit movie Top Gun. If you liked the movie you will definetly like the book.

If you want to FORGE a knife this is the book for you....If you want to BUILD a knife===>There are others more suited for that

Wayne's first version of this book was the first knifemaking book i purchased. Wayne has guided me and been my mentor and friend from the first (approx 4 yrs ). This latest version is one of the best books a beginner could get. All the fotos and diagrams are in color which greatly helps in understanding the lessons. It has new fotos and diagrams all in color. Although this book has approx same number of pages as the original, it seems to contain 50% more info in it. I would reccommend this book to all knifemakers...beginner and experienced. Definitely a 5 star book.

I own both editions of this book. Wayne is a personal friend, and my mentor in knifemaking. It can be intimidating to read some publications and see all the high-tech machinery that some makers use. This book shows that people can develope their passion for making knives without spending a fortune. It is clear and concise, and takes alot of the guesswork out of being a beginner. Wayne learned knifemaking by trial and error, before there were books, magazines and videos on the subject. This book is a must have in the library of any knifemaker. I read mine constantly for reference and inspiration.

Craig "MADKAT"

Those civil war soldiers knew how to live. Whiskey, Six Guns and Red Light Ladies -- what more can a fellow ask for?

Every town should be blessed with such a great record of their rowdy past, and thanks to Neil Carmony for editing this diary and making it available to all. George Hand came to Tucson in 1872 as an enlisted man and died there twenty years later. It is unusual for a blue-collar male to be so faithful to writing, and through his words one gets a clear view of his side of life in the Wild West. Sometimes it wasn't so wild, as boredom, heat, dust and disease took its toll. Hand describes the Mexican flavor of Tucson, the various types of settlers, forms of entertainment and just plain everyday life.

The miner, Civil War soldier, butcher, Saloon-keeper and night watchman, GEORGE HAND, kept a diary throughout most of his adult life. This book includes all of the entries from his Tucson, Arizona saloon-keeping years of 1875 through 1878, as well as his separate "obituary" sections encompassing the years '72 through '87. Don't let the cheesy, unfortunate title fool you, WHISKEY, SIX-GUNS & RED-LIGHT LADIES is an absolute gem! While I couldn't bring myself to give it the same number of Stars that I awarded to Lamsa's translation of THE HOLY BIBLE and Stormer's truly essential political tome, NONE DARE CALL IT TREASON: 25 YEARS LATER, this really is a Five-Star, must-own book for anyone interested in American West history!

Through HAND's day by day observations, we get an extraordinarily clear picture of life in the untamed Southwest territory of the 1800s. The Old West comes vibrantly alive as this common working man records his unvarnished impressions of what was then an unruly outpost on the frontier. WHISKEY, SIX-GUNS & RED-LIGHT LADIES is far from being a dry cataloging of names and events because the effervescent and humorously ironic personality of GEORGE HAND weaves wit and fascinating details into the simple diary, thus exhibiting for us the many textures of real Western life. The dust, heat, danger, boredom, "romance" and hardship of the authentic Wild West are on display on nearly every page. For example :

1875, JUNE 21. "...Cockeyed Jones left for Sonora -- what for, no one knows, not even himself."
SEPT. 30. "...Bedford was drunk all day -- he talked several men nearly to death."

1876, JAN. 27. "...In the evening I had a singing match with Morgan, with McDermott critic and sufferer. It was decided in my favor."
JUNE 25. "...The church was busy today. All the wh*res in town went to get Holy Water and pray off the sins of yesterday."
JULY 9. "...I took a bath, changed clothes, and feel tip-top for one who has been drunk for 6 years."

1877, JAN. 7. "...Mollie Monroe was arrested for wearing men's clothes and put in jail."
JUNE 19. "...A new law firm has been established -- Clark & McDermott. Principal business -- drinking whiskey."
JULY 5. "Very dull today. All the boys have the blues."
SEPT. 3. "...Stage came -- very little mail. Sorghum Smith arrived with his horse Pumpkins. Very windy and dusty today...got drunk today, the first time in my life."
OCT. 4. "...I went to bed at 9:30 -- slept very little -- the streets were full of barking dogs and drunken wh*res."

1878, MAR. 7. "...I raised the flag to the masthead in honor of the birthday of a celebrated old pisser named George Hand -- 48 years old. A few less than three thousand people have asked why the flag was up, but they all went away as wise as when they came."
NOV. 26. "...Took a walk with McKey to see a young lady -- we 'saw' her."

I find it particularly fascinating when GEORGE HAND mentions well-known historical events which were contemporary to his time. For example, in one place he mentions a telegram informing them of General George Custer's death at Little Bighorn in Montana, and in another, he notes the trouble in nearby Tombstone and the revenge taken upon Frank Stillwell for the killing of Morgan Earp. His corpse having been discovered on a Tucson railroad track, Hand comments, "Frank Stillwell was shot all over, the worst shot-up man that I ever saw."

WHISKEY, SIX-GUNS & RED-LIGHT LADIES includes very informative commentary by editor Neil Carmony, an extensive index, and wonderful old photographs showing some of the places and characters mentioned by GEORGE HAND in his diary. While moral flaws of his society (and occasionally even his own character) are exposed in HAND's writing, virtually every American West history buff will find this book thoroughly entertaining, enlightening, and indispensable!

The next time you're out Tucson-way, be sure to visit GEORGE HAND. I'm sure he'd love to have you stop by and say hello. His wild Western life behind him now, he resides peacefully on North Oracle Road at the Evergreen Cemetary.

This is the book I used when I got started reloading about 10 years ago, and this book gave me just what I needed. When I first got the itch to load my own ammunition, I was overwhelmed by the amount of information and terminology involved in this fascinating field/hobby. It was very difficult to take all the individual pieces of information that I had and form it into an understandable process. I was snowed in under a blizzard of data that I was piecing together through chat rooms and web sites. Everyone was very helpful - basically shooters are the most helpful people I know - but still I was just getting fragments without a solid, complete overview. Phrases like "roll crimp", "seating and sizer dies," and "headspace" came at me in a blizzard. I could look up each phrase, understand each one as a piece, but still the whole picture was fuzzy. In essence, that is what this book will do for you: turn it all into a coherent, linear whole. The writing is very solid and clear, the illustrations are well done and helpful, and the information is very complete. After reading this book, the entire process made sense to me, and more importantly, I was fully warned about the does and don'ts of the reloading world. The coverage is very complete. Primers, powders, bullets and cases are explained with regard to nomenclature and history. All necessary tools and accessories are discussed and explained. This is just a great book. It won't make you an expert (only actual reloading for years will do that), but it will put you on the right road if you wish to become one. --Mykal Banta

This book came highly recommended by members of a forum on reloading. I was not disappointed. I will recommend it myself. The book covers the bases and is easy to read. You will need to add other books to your library, ( such as load data for specific calibers ) but this is a very good place to start.

Diamond intenta explicar porque unas sociedades son ricas y otras son pobres en base a una serie de elementos geográficos y climáticos y en base a la presencia o ausencia de ciertos elementos de la flora y fauna.
En verdad el libro aporta información sumamente interesante acerca de la domesticación de plantas y animales y sobre el movimiento de los seres humanos. Intenta explicar como el control de unas sociedades por otras es secundaria a la disponibilidad de plantas y animales. Todos son teorías y, a pesar de que Diamond es un científico, no aporta ninguna prueba para lo que expresa, lo cual pude ser cierto o no segun el gusto del lector.

Peter D. Tillman (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
How did the West grow rich and conquer the world? It wasn't
racial superiority, as the Victorians thought - indeed, Diamond
gives evidence that the average New Guinean may well be smarter
than the average European. His own one-sentence summary of the
book is: "History followed different courses for different peoples
because of differences among peoples' environments, not because of
biological differences among the peoples themselves"[clunk]. Or, it's the
environment, stupid. Or, the West got lucky.

I'm uncomfortable with history-as-polemics, but Diamond (usually)
keeps his facts and interpretations pretty well separated. And this is a
wonderful one-volume history of the human race. It is unusual, and
refreshing, to read a history written by a distinguished and literate
biological scientist. History isn't generally considered to be science -
"it's just one damn fact after another." But then, you could say the
same for large parts of astronomy, biology & geology.

13,000 years ago, the most recent Ice Age was ending, and people
everywhere still made their living as hunter-gatherers. Diamond starts
his story at the dawn of civilization. By Chapter 3, he's recounting
Pizarro's conquest of the Inca empire in 1532. In an afternoon, 168
Spanish soldiers routed an army of 80,000, killed 7,000, and captured
the Inca emperor. It's not surprising that the Spaniards would feel
superior. But the conquistadores' invisible allies had been at work
since 1492 - smallpox from Spain had killed the previous Inca emperor
and his heir, setting off a war of succession that fatally weakened the
empire. Diseases from Europe would ultimately kill up to 95% of the
native peoples of the Americas, often before they saw their first
European. The old American cultures were doomed from first contact,
even if the Old World visitors had been peaceful explorers and traders.
12,000 years of isolation had left native Americans with no resistance to
the lethal European microbes.

Where did these diseases come from, and why didn't the Indians
return the favor by infecting Eurasia? Many came originally from
domestic animals (for example, measles and smallpox from cattle), and
required large, dense populations to evolve. The Indians had few
domestic animals - one reason why they were poorer than Eurasians,
and those (fortuitously) had no diseases that "made the jump" from
animals to humans - good evidence for Diamond's "history as luck"
hypothesis.

Diamond's history is wonderful, full of new science, strange facts, and
great anecdotes. The polemics get repetitious and a bit defensive at
times, but can be safely skimmed. This would have been a better book
had it been written as straight history, letting the facts speak for
themselves - but it's still well worth reading. Recommended.

Diamond, a professor of physiology at UCLA, is a frequent
contributor to Discover, Natural History, and Geo magazines.


Review copyright 1998, 2006 by Peter D. Tillman
Peter D. Tillman is a consulting geologist based in Arizona.

This is an excellent book which combines an overveiw of the history of the gun trade with specialist information for the true enthusiast.It is an easy read and the photos are quite remarkable.I'm looking forward to his next book.

This book by Tate is really excellent research. The time and effort to dig out all of the details of even obscure Birmingham gunmakers was well spent. The book is actually a lot "thicker" than its appearance would have you believe. The photos are absolutely gorgeous. They are worth the price of the book. There are surprises in the book, too. Wait till you find out who actually built many of the name "London Best" guns. Well worth the money and if you're an English double fan you really can't be without this book. M. D. Beale, Jr.