For 4,000 years weapons, and the warriors who used them, have acted as the cutting edge of history, using ax, spear, bow, sword, gun, a nd cannon to determine the rise of kingdoms and the fall of empires. From the stone axes of the earliest warfare to the heavy artillery of today's modern armies, this awe-inspiring book portrays for the first time the entire spectrum of weaponry. A spectacular, unprecedented visual reference to the design, function and history of arms and armor from around the world. Combines specially commissioned photography and sophisticated design with authoritative text and exhaustive coverage. Beautifully photographed and richly detailed catalogues display - often at actual size - all the major types of weapon, from spears to machine-guns. Profiles the warriors who have deployed the weapons to devastating effect, from the Roman legionary to the US Navy Seal. Includes features that showcase individual weapons in stunning detail.

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【From Booklist】

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Written by a team of British military historians, this oversize volume seizes attention with the publisher's brand-name design: images surrounded by information-packed captions silhouetted against a white or a black background. Its pictures are sure to snare the substantial audience interested in the history of swords, guns, and body armor. Limiting the subject to portable armaments, the work extends from the first likely weapon (a rock) to the rifles issued to contemporary infantrymen. In most cases, the emphasis is on the tools of the ordinary soldier, his equipage through time explained with arrowed illustrations. The evolution of handheld weaponry is soon apparent, with that of firearms especially prominent. Some guns depicted here will be recognizable (think AK-47) even to those who recoil from guns. Explaining how such lethal equipment works is Weapon's forte; another asset is the comparison of weapon categories across a suite of historical societies. Popular? That's a foregone conclusion. Gilbert Taylor

Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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【Review】

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"Weapon depicts the spectrum of weaponry from the stone axes of early warfare to today's modern artillery."

– Publishers Weekly

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"An illustrated history of weaponry diagrams in detail."

– Columbus Dispatch

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"From Assyrian spears to the AK-47, weapons — and the warriors who have brandished them — forged history by shaping the rise of empires and the course of revolutions with the ax, the bow, the sword, and the gun."

– Military Officer