This fully illustrated encyclopedia provides an authoritative and clear guide to the complex world of the firearm of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

A history of firearms -- The hand gonne -- The matchlock -- The wheel-lock -- The snaphaunce -- The flintlock -- The percussion principle -- Breech-loading firearms -- The revolver -- The rifle -- The machine gun -- Automatic pistols -- Automatic rifles and submachine guns -- The firearms of the future -- An A-Z of firearms from 1830 to the present -- Technical specifications.