The Illustrated Directory of Guns: A Collector's Guide to Over 1500 Military, Sporting and Antique Firearms

The printing and photos are all excellent quality.However, there is no index. So I can't look up a particular gun.The book is organized by category of firearm, and within that, by country of manufacturer, and within that, alphabetically by manufacturer.There is nothing on each page to tell you were you are, what section or what country. So, you have to flip every single page to slowly find the gun you are looking for. And if you don't know what country it is from, that's a problem.The text for each gun is not consistent.Some have a detailed account of the history of manufacture.Some have a detailed account of the individual gun that. Probably from a private collection.Some refer to a previous paragraph or previous model that isn't in the book.One says it is a single shot bolt action, when the photo clearly shows a single shot lever action falling block.Of the guns I looked for that I have owned, I could only find one for sure. That was for the Stevens single shot, lever action, falling block .22 that they erroneously describe as a bolt action.No valuations are includedThe lack of an index and the inconsistency of the descriptions leads me think this was information from various sources just pasted together to create a more comprehensive book.Not much work was done to make the book consistent or usable. And with errors I know of, I can't trust things that are said about guns I don't already know about.However, if you have 20, 50 or 100+ books already, the high wuality photographs and hodge-podge styles of text might have something in it to add to your knowledge.

Not enough index . I enjoy looking through it

Lots of info and great pictures. Great reference guide.

Ive got no complaints its like a dictionary for guns.

A beautifully illustrated book of very old and new firearms. A bargain for such a book!

This book is an excellant visual reverence and the detail is second to none.The author has taken great pride in his work. Any negative review must be taken with a grain of salt.

Super nice book

This book provides a stunning visual referance. The brief description under each catagory provides a lesson in firearms history.

Well researched - BUT UP TO A POINT!!! - well presented, richly illustrated, otherwise - routine coffee-table book. Might be a good gift (for non-collector), useful as a general reference.Contras: it is fully concentrated on contemporary arms, while true collectors' items are guns of the past: matchlocks, wheel locks, flintlocks (in particular) and percussion.The choice of these guns is occasional: France is left without Nicolas Boutet* - this is simply unforgivable! - without LePage and Gastinne Renette. England - no Robert Wogdon, no Twigg, Mortimer. No Purdey ! Imagine a guide to British paintings without Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough, or Turner... One of the best gunsmiths in the world (Nock, Mantons) are there with the guns picked up from third-rate provincial salesrooms - where are famous duellers in their glory? By the way, just to few of them (British gunmakers of the last century)we owe fat too many important inventions, than to Flobert.Germany without Kuchenreuter?Belgian gunsmiths got somehow lost between "Austria" and "China", while Italy shared the fate of Belgium (not mentioned as a country), and came without superb Brescian guns.Russia had something in Tula already under Peter the Great - just few centuries before "TT", while Spain was worldknown for super miquelet locks - also few centuries before "Astra".I presume that if someone is about to produce a guns' directory for collectors, the illustrations should come from Bonhams, Thomas Del Mar, Maison Osenat, Hermann Historica - these are world leaders selling quality arms and armour.Furthermore - since it is supposed to be for collectors (newcomers apparently) - some advice and guidance on prices, fakes and "made-up" things, how to by and where to buy, restoration and LEGISLATION (what kind of permit one need to buy and to keep various types of guns, restrictions on shipping, customs, etc, etc - Dante's seven circles of Hell are nothing when compared to that) should have been in the book. First of all, I would have expected a brief summary of the evolution of firearms, and an illustrated explanation of the terms (wheellock, miquelet, full stock, box lock, etc, etc).*Sorry, but Boutet was gunsmith for the King and Emperor (Napoleon)and director of Manufacture of Versailles - which is a bit above manufacture St.Etienne.All in all - the book is beautifully done, and ruined by total lack of qualified editing. I do not doubt the expertise of the author - for sure, he tried many guns first-hand (although, I doubt that he had an experience with Mantons or Durs Egg). As a retired professional alcoholic I drank many wines - but it doesn't mean that I knew the taste. A different kind of knowledge is required for collectors' guide, and this knowledge simply is not in.Guns collecting, this most noble and decadent vice, was well described by Frederick Wilkinson and Keith Neal, after them there was no need to come with such messy affair

What we have here is a good book betrayed by the lack of a competent editor. The text is littered with typos and outright mistakes; most of the latter are obvious, though irritating. Photos lack captions; captions lack photos; photos have mistaken captions. A few photos show up in the wrong place. So why did I give this book 3 stars? First, the price is right. Second, there are hundreds of colour photos. Third, several rare weapons are covered. And last but not least, most of the text is spot on. I hope the author reads this review. A few days of correcting errors would result in a book that is well worth buying.