The Illustrated History of Guns: From First Firearms to Semiautomatic Weapons

See the history of civilization through the world's most deadly and fascinating firearms

The Illustrated History of Guns is a comprehensive look at the often deadly, sometimes surprising, always fascinating tools of battle. More than three hundred photographs of an eclectic mix of weapons were specially commissioned from the 8,000-piece collection of the Berman Museum of World History. Spanning the globe and hundreds of years, they include the traveling pistols of Confederate president Jefferson Davis and Heinrich Himmler's rifle. A variety of rare weapons of espionage and combination curiosa makes the collection of special interest to even the most seasoned weaponry connoisseur.

In The Illustrated History of Guns, the extraordinary weapons from the Berman Museum of World History are collected in this one-of-a-kind volume. Within these pages, you'll find weapons owned by Benito Mussolini, Belle Starr, Hermann Goering, Napoleon III, and Kaiser Wilhelm.

Chuck Wills offers historical perspective of the people, places, and times important to the development of firearms, with special features that illuminate such topics as the Civil War and trench warfare. The rare and wonderful pieces collected here and their commentary offer something for the history buff, cultural anthropologist, and weapons enthusiast alike.

Skyhorse Publishing is proud to publish a broad range of books for hunters and firearms enthusiasts. We publish books about shotguns, rifles, handguns, target shooting, gun collecting, self-defense, archery, ammunition, knives, gunsmithing, gun repair, and wilderness survival. We publish books on deer hunting, big game hunting, small game hunting, wing shooting, turkey hunting, deer stands, duck blinds, bowhunting, wing shooting, hunting dogs, and more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Chuck Wills is a writer, editor, and consultant specializing in history, with an emphasis on military history. His work in this area includes books on the Battle of Little Bighorn, Pearl Harbor, and the Tet Offensive, as well as several volumes of an illustrated history of the American Civil War. He resides in New York City.

The Berman Museum of World History’s holdings number 8,500 objects, with 3,000 items related to world history exhibited in its galleries.