History Of The Gun In 500 Photographs

History of the Gun in 500 Photographs

A fascinating look into the history of the firearm and how and why it has had the impact it has on American culture and society. Few inventions have had more of a profound impact on the course of civilization than guns: The first hand-held versions were Chinese fire lances invented in the 10th century, though it was Europeans who were credited with creating the handheld weapons that we recognize today. Americans and their expansion westward were the ones who refined, and helped define innovation and the development of an industry. Starting with Samuel Colt and the "revolver revolution," Americans took the lead in moving gun development forward. Names now well-known including Wesson, Winchester, and Browning helped create weapons that helped move a nation forward and ushered in the industrialized warfare of World War I. Now, TIME-LIFE, in the next book in the success "500 Photographs" series, following World War II in 500 Photographs and The Civil War in 500 Photographs, brings readers The History of the Gun in 500 Photographs, which traces the fascinating evolution of firearms, not just as tools of security, but as ingenious feats of science and engineering. This book contains over 500 photos that take readers on a historical and visual journey of the gun, not just as a weapon, but as a constantly-evolving artifact that has shaped America's culture and mindset.

History of the Gun in 500 Photographs

The Illustrated History of Guns

For the first time in paperback, a photographic history of civilization, as seen through the world's most deadly and fascinating firearms. The Illustrated History of Guns is a comprehensive look at the tools of battle. To craft this book, more than five hundred photographs of genuine specimens were specially commissioned from the six-thousand-piece collection of the Berman Museum of World History. The weapons featured span a period of close to four thousand years, ranging from Ancient Greece to World War II, and from the Crusades in Europe to the US Civil War. It features a wide array of diverse treasures, including the traveling pistols of Confederate president Jefferson Davis, a royal Persian scimitar with 1,295 rose-cut diamonds and rubies, and a single 11-carat emerald set in gold, first owned by Shah Abbas I of Persia and given in tribute to Catherine the Great. The Illustrated History of Guns also offers information on weapons innovators, including Alexander Forsyth, Eliphalet Remington, Samuel Colt, Sergei Mosin, the Mauser brothers, Hiram Maxim, John Browning, Richard Gatling, John T. Thompson, John Garland, Feodor Tokarev, Oliver Winchester, and Mikhail Kalashnikov. With unparalleled historical perspective and background on persons significant to the development and advancements of weapons technology or military strategy, The Illustrated History of Guns belongs on the shelf of every history buff and firearms enthusiast.