Weapon: A Visual History of Arms and Armor

You don't even have to be a history buff to appreciate this book. It's a real page turner and has very detailed images of all sorts of weapons. Definitely a great conversation starter & perfect for reading in the bathroom or leaving on a coffee table. It'd probably even make a good source for a college/highschool paper if you were doing some kind of report on a like-minded topic

This is a three in one review on the truly splendid books, Warrior, Weapon, and Battle. Or more formally: Warrior, A visual History of the Fighting Man. Weapon, A visual History of Arms and Armor. Battle, A visual Journey through 5000 Years of Combat.They can be reviewed together because of their kinship in sharing the same visual concept and the same supremely expert author, R. G. Grant. No pilgrim, Grant is the author of over 20 books, most on the subject of conflict, implements of war and the fighting man.All three books are wonderfully delicious for those of us whose DNA inclines us toward the history of arms, armament and the men who have carried them. These books are chock full of photographs, charts, maps and illustrations on every page to beautifully compliment and expand upon a tightly written, no fluff text. And this text is extremely well researched.In the spirit of full disclosure, I must confess that I have not read each of these three books in their entirety. I've had them for only 2 weeks and after scanning them from start to finish, I am now devouring them slowly, page by page, like a monk with a holy book, meting out tasty morsels judiciously. I want this to last a long time.Although, the books overlap to a degree, they are not repetitious in any negative way as they each have their own exclusive focus.Warrior takes on the subject of the individual fighting man from 600 BCE to the present, from the Greek Hoplite, the Samurai, Zulu, Mongol bowman, American rifleman to the modern western infantry and special forces...and almost everything in between.Weapon focuses on just about every kind of implement of a fighting man's arsenal of killing tools from Assyrian spears to the AK 47. In some cases, replicas have been photographed but mostly it's the often crusty, old real thing. The photography is first rate. As in all three books, the text and illustrations are intermingled in such an artful way as to make each page a visual smorgasbord.Battle covers the first recorded major battle which is between the Canaanites and the Egyptians at Meiddo and takes us through conflicts in every age all the way to modern times. Its focus is on the Generals, the strategies, the troops and their weapons.Battle was published by DK in 2005, Weapon in `05 and Warrior in `07. Highly recommended, all three.

This book is well designed and made and the illustrations and data in this book makes for a great history book for those interested as well a great reference source but also a great talk piece for the coffee table.

This is not an in-depth text about a particular weapon or type of weapon. It is a beautiful, & informative book. The book labels the weapons by name, place of origin, time period, & sometimes breaks down the components of a particular weapon. It covers everything from prehistoric weapons to modern guns & bayonets, everywhere from Asia to Africa to Europe. The binding seems like it will last for a good while - I first saw this book in my local library, before purchasing it - it was in very good shape.Oh, for those who are also considering "Knives and Swords" (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/075665646X/ref=oh_o03_s01_i02_details), you should be forewarned that they are in many ways the same book. I purchased both, not realizing that they were from the same publisher. Knives & Swords has nothing that isn't in this book (so far as I can tell) but is a slightly sturdier, more coffee-table type binding. Of course, Knives & Swords does not the missile weapons from this book - including guns. I would recommend buying this book of the two.

Over the months I have been reading this book. It is a great addition to my little library. It goes over a variety of weapons even ones I never knew existed. This is a great book to have on hand and is a great idea for tabletop roleplay games if you're into them. I still find myself looking back in this book from time to time when making campaigns. It's an amazing learning tool for people interested in history as war has always been a part of us as humans across our entire existence. The pictures are high quality and from what I've checked it's highly accurate. I hope this little review helps somebody make a decision on whether you wish to add it to your collection as well.

Being an illustrator and history nerd, I'm always looking for new and good references. Even though I already have two different books on this subject (one being guns the other being swords and sabres), I really love this book. The pictures are great, the info (yeah one or two things might be wrong here and there but no source is absolutely perfect) is pretty good and it provides a nice timeline of what's happening in the world at the time (this war happened, this weapon/metal/tool created etc.)I am also very fond of this book because it has better diversity for weapons (the two other books I have focus more on European styles and tech) so seeing some cool Indian and even stuff from Australian Aboriginals is pretty great.Little bummed that it did not have as much armor as I would like, it still touches upon and shows some nice variants but otherwise probably not much the average nerd didn't know about.Fantastic for the price, no regrets here! :)

I bought this as a gift for my sister's bf. He is really into weaponry and this book is fantastic. For the price you get a LOT of book. The book itself is pretty large and it is chock full of beautiful color photographs and artwork. I am not really into this stuff but found myself flipping through it for a good hour before I wrapped it. This is the perfect gift for someone into weapons and their history.

My kiddo loves this! He really enjoys looking at the history of weapons and armor. Great info and pictures.