Guns Books

I read this book after Gerard Whelan came to our school and explained why he wrote it. He said that a lot of the problems in Ireland today are caused by people getting upset about what they think happened in history and he wanted to find out what really happened. This is a really exciting story about children's adventures during the Easter Rising and at the end you realise it isn't about baddies and goodies but about real mixed up people. I am 13 and I think anyone who enjoys adventure stories would enjoy this one.

This is an adventure story located in the turmoil of Dublin during the 1916 rebellion. As well as being a gripping adventure, it's a great introduction to modern Irish history.

I've recommended it to older friends as well as younger ones and most of them have read it at one sitting.

The hero of the novel spends Easter week dodging the firefights and explosions which are racking Irelands capital.

Through his travels the book introduces us to a varied cast of characters on both sides of the Irish struggle. As well as the British soldiers there are the various Irish groups that came together to oppose them: the working men of the Citizens army, the poets and writers of the Irish volunteers and the ordinary citizens of Dublin.

The young boys life is often in danger, but through his eyes we are privileged to see the sacrifice and determination which is bringing Ireland it's freedom.

While the hero of the novel is dodging the raking fire of machine guns and the heavy thud of Mauser bullets we're given a fascinating picture of Dublin and it's inhabitants.

One of the things I most enjoyed about this book was it's attention to detail and it's great period accuracy. But after reading it I also understood more fully the political events that are happening in Ireland now.

I enjoyed the book enough that I wish it had been longer. There are enough pages, but they seem to go fast. John Wilcox is not Bernard Cornwell, Zane Grey, or my latest idol, Sam Barone, but he writes a nice story. Most of his main characters are very likable, and the reader can cheer when the villains get their just desserts. The female lead is somewhat exasperating. Sometimes she is portrayed sympathetically, and at other times she is vain and self centered. If you've read Patrick O'Brian's Captain Aubrey series, there's a woman named Diana that reminds me of Alice in the Simon Fonthill series. I think everyone was glad when she finally drowned, and unless Alice's character improves by learning from the mistakes she's made in her life, I think I shall be glad if she falls by the wayside. I also have an issue in the series with false cowboys, rigged duels, and commanders dumber than dirt. But for the time being I intend to buy the series although I have reservations about it. Why, because the series is just good enough, I like the time period, and I just can't help feeling that the one book I don't buy will be the one where the author finally puts together a masterpiece.

There is nothing more satisfying than an adventure series that keeps delivering winners. Knowing that you can purchase a book and be entertained year after year makes reading a joy.

Wilcox delivers again with The Guns of El Kabir. In his fifth annual installment of the /simon Fonthill series, Wilcox has Simon and 352in Egypt fighting a war not dissimilar than the current war in Iraq. All of the usual cast of characters. Particularly warming is the growing relationship between Fonthill and 352. While they bear a striking resemblance to Sharpe and Harper, the main characters continue to work.

Sure the book is formulaic: incompetent British officers, dastardly Arabs, a hero who can get out of the worst messes with seeming ease. Yet, in the hands of a master, it works. I would at some point appreciate an index of the various wounds Fonthill has suffered. His body must look like a pin-cushion!

So, get your annual fix, buy The Guns of El Kabir and prepare to be entertained!

a must book for history buffs living in new england. there were things happening in places outside of the mass. during the founding of our country. an excellent travel guide!

I didn't read this book per se, but did look at the illustrations which were very good. Relied on what Amazon said about it. Knew it was good and belonged in our Special Collections unit at the local college. They were very pleased to get it.

I read this book, translated to the portuguese, when I was a child.I still have this book.I should tell you, that this book is concise, short and easy to read.Why I don't give 5 stars for it?Well, this book has basically nothing, about soviet artillery .I fact soviet artillery beteween 1941-1945 was the biggest in world history.I think that, when this book was writen in 1970's decade wasn't possible to have trustable information about soviet artillery in World War II.The japanese artillery also has very limited writen in this book.
If you want to see the table of contents of this book, in English, I don't have it.I want to translate to English the brazilian table of contents, with some coments from myself:
1-The Thunder of war>Introduction writen by Barrie Pitt.
2-The begginings >The artillery in beggining of World War II.
3-Division's artillery > Equipments from England, USA,etc.
4-Anti-tank artillery > Guns and anmunitions anti-tanks.
5-Steel's roof >Anti-aircraft artillery in World War II.
6-Heavy weight guns > The great cannons,mortars and coastal defense.
7-The Newton's artillery > Guns without recoil.
8-Crude guns > Crude artillery produced.All with limited or no results at all.
9-Table of dates > Weights, sizes, range,etc. of artillery in World War II.
10-Bibliography > Books about this subject.

This is an excellent overview of artillery and anti-tank guns of the Axis and the Allies during World War II.

The emphasis is on the technology and capabilities of the individual guns, which you'd think would render the prose rather tedious. But author Ian Hogg writes very well and keeps it interesting.

The text is punctuated with numerous photographs and illustrations.

I received a copy of this book while recovering from major surgery and despite its bulk (500 plus pages), I couldn't put it down. I especially enjoyed the photos and detailed coverage of firearms use in frontier life in the 1800s, a topic I've not seen covered so well elsewhere. I also liked the chapters on women as shootist, the presence of foreign-made guns in the west, Indian Guns and frontier use of artillery by civilians and the army. I am not a student of antique firearms but have always been fascinated by the history of the American West. The first person accounts the author used added to my understanding of the topic and made the book even more facinating. This book is a great gift for someone who is a fan of the American West as well as firearms.

I've just started in on reading it but I found the book to have a lot of information about various firearms used in the West, including pre-Civil war days.
It's a big book with several chapters divided between the different types of firearms, the periods in which they were used, and the people who used them.
I especially remember chapters on Buffalo hunting, several on gun brands, and one on the women who used these weapons. Each chapter has several photographs, some of these are period originals and some are of the guns as they are now found in a variety of private and public collections (the photos could stand to be a little larger and clearer to make them easier to examine). There is a very long footnoted bibliography at the back of the book, and much of the text is quoted material from these older (often period) works.
The book is better suited to reading in several sittings, a chapter at a time. I think I'll learn a lot while reading it but I wish there was more information on how the guns were used, not just that this person used that gun or some certain gun was more favored for one thing or another. I remember very little "saddleleather" information, that might be a little bit misleading in the title.

In HAVE GUN, WILL TRAVEL you will here about Paladin a man that is a gun for hired but only if the price is right and the cause is right. He is a man that stands up to those that defy law and order and is a man that attempts to right wrongs. Sort of like the Lone Ranger without the mask.

The characteristic of John Dehner that stands out in this radio series is his distinctive voice - usually an aset in classic radio. His authoritative (and slightly superior) air and excellent diction played well as Paladin, the mysterious man who was a West Point graduate and student of military and other history. Was he a hired gun? Perhaps, but in fact he was much more. He made moral and practical judgements of the people he met, didn't discriminate against minorities, and treated others with respect and demanded the same of them.

Although Richard Boone made a visual icon of the TV Paladin, Dehner played the western hero in the only series that traveled to radio after it began production as a TV program. The radio series ran from late 1958 to late 1960, and Dehner played Paladin in all the programs. His delivery is impeccable throughout, and the resulting programs are well worth listening to. Although some of the scripts are spin-offs of the TV series, many are original.

If you're a fan of Have Gun Will Travel, these programs make great listening while driving on trips or spending a quiet evening at home.

This book rises above two problems: errors/typos and terrible binding. It's a fat little book with very short pages so it's difficult to open it wide enough to read easily.
And you're going to want to open it wide because they pack alot of info in there. The book is broken down by weapon type (pistol, rifle, light machine-gun, etc.) and you will find most of the well known weapons in here with plenty of weird one-offs and forgotten ancestors.
The basic info for each gun is mostly complete and the text and photo is generally well-done. The typos are frequent enough to annoy and there are some obvious errors including the wrong weapon description being used for one entry.
Still a very good addition to a basic library on firearms because few are as comprehensive and feature so many good photographs.

This is great book considering its price. It is almost identical to the Jane's Gun Recognition Guide except it is cheaper and doesn't contain as many errors. It has any gun from the year 1900 to the present. I did have trouble finding the SA80. I thought it would have it considering there is a picture of one on the back. But still, this book is a great buy for people who are looking for a good book that contains lots of information on weapons.

I have both the JG26 War Diaries written also by Donald Caldwell. This Photographic reference is an excellent supplement to these volumes with very little duplication of photographs. It is well laid out with each chapter describing a set time during JG26's existence. A useful extra is the extensive colour plates of each major version of aircraft flown by the Geschwader and the closing chapter that covers paint schemes and markings that tie back to the colour plates. Very recommended.

This is a must-have book for anyone interested in modelling the aircraft of the Luftwaffe's Jadgeschwader 26. Packed with black and white photos of the aircraft and crews in combat and at rest, it provides the details one is looking for when attempting to accurately model a specific aircraft. It contains interesting, if breif, text passages about JG26, along with (24) color profile plates. Chapter 10 is dedicated entirely to textual descriptions of camoflage and markings used by the Gruppe throughout the war. Also of interest are humerous photographs found throughout the book proving that while war is indeed hell, it has it's lighter moments too!

Very nicely written book with great hunting pictures, but if you're looking for specific infomation about guns this is not the book for you. The author dedicates more time on historical hunting trips and the hunters that undertook them than on their guns.

Wonderful book, photographs, history and high quality information for all serious hunter worldwide ! Congratulations for the Author !

This is definitely a great book as far as information and diagrams, and it is laid out in a very logical manner for reference. It has some information and a few photos in it that you wont even find on the internet. The only problem is that the front cover can be a little misleading. It shows a color photograph, and the book actually has no color photographs, which is disappointing because there are so many variations as far as tip color designations and different sealer colors. Most of the black & white photos in the book are ok, but there's a fair amount that look sort of mediocre, like photocopied almost. As long as you're ok with black & white photos, and not being able to see tip-color or casing & bullet colorations, then 90% of this book is totally fine. I would buy it for any price up to $40.00

I am a cartridge collector & this book is one of my most used references. I don't think there is a better book out there dealing with this area. There are over 370 pages of photos, cartridge dimensions, histories & devlopement, variations. The list of information goes on & on. It is well layed out, so everything is easy to find. If you are a military cartridge collector or just a military buff. It doesn't get much better than this.