THE ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SMALL ARMS FROM HAND CANNONS TO AUTOMATIC WEAPONS, by Rupert Matthews in association with The Berman Museum of World History. Published by the Thunder Bay Press, Dept. TGM, 10350 Barnes Canyon Road, San Diego, CA 92121. Price: Available through most bookstores, Amazon, etc
By Larry Sterett | Book Review editor
This large 320-page volume weighed in on the postage scale at four pounds ten and one-quarter ounces, and does an excellent job of being what its title states. It is elaborately illustrated with color photographs, with even the Contents pages illustrated in full color.
an Introduction this tome is divided into six sections or parts, starting with The
Following First Small Arms: Prehistory – 1300. The following sections feature The First Firearms 1300—1840, Repeating Weapons 16401914. The World Wars 1914—1945, Post-WWII Weapons 1945—Present, and Resources. Each section, except for Resources, is further divided in from ten to eighteen sections or topics. (Resources contains information about the Bergman Museum, a glossary, an index, and a list of acknowledgments.)
It was a bit of a surprise to find Mexico was the first nation to actually adopt a semi-automatic rifle—the SIG-manufactured Mondragon— for its army in 1908.
When WWI intervened Germany impounded the 3,000 such rifles at the SIG plant and issued them to its troops. The mud in the trenches soon ended the career of the precision mechanism and the rifle was withdrawn from service. Thus, the U.S. Became the first nation to adopt a reliable semi-automatic rifle—the M1 Garand.
This volume is thorough, even including weapons of espionage–pipe pistols, belt buckle pistols, lipstick pistols, flute pistol, and several others, including umbrella, walking stick, and a pocketbook revolver.
There were a few noted questionable items, such as the Artillery Luger with the rear sight flipped completely over. It was a bit surprising to find the Ruger 10//22 with Butler Creek folding stock featured in the ‘Assault Weapons’ section with the AK-74 and the Zastava M70. Considering the magnitude of this volume it was surprising not to note more irregularities.
For anyone interested in learning about small arms from their beginning to the present era, this tome would be an excellent choice to have available on their reference shelf.
