The four decades since the original edition of The World's Assault Rifles was published have seen exponential advancements in the design and development of this infantry weapon. When the acknowledged dean of military small-arms historians, Thomas B. Nelson, teamed with one of America's top hands-on gun writers, Gary Paul Johnston, to do a complete, decades-long revision of this classic volume, their reputations and professionalism gained them unprecedented access to classified archives, corporate and private collections, and military and museums weapons all around the world. The result is a monumental body of research that may well have been impossible for any other team to assemble. From this wealth of data, the authors present 70 chapters comprising more than 1,200 pages of weapons from more than 50 countries, lavishly illustrated with 2,000 photos and drawings. With technical and design data starting from the early 1900s to what is on the drawing boards for tomorrow, this encyclopedic volume covers every facet of the assault rifle?all within a lively and detailed historical perspective?to create the best volume ever published on the topic. Just a few of the topics in this massive tome are World War II German developments, the insider story of the Stoner weapons system, the candid behind-the-scenes story of USSR/Russian weapons developments, and a look inside assault weapons production in China. Ten years in the making, this new edition of The World's Assault Rifles will become the standard reference on assault weapons for decades to come. Make it a cornerstone volume in your small-arms library. AUTHOR: Gary Paul Johnston is a highly regarded firearms writer, having authored more than 1,700 articles in dozens of magazines and periodicals worldwide. Johnston joined the Los Angeles Police Department in 1963, and during his 28-year career in law enforcement he tested hundreds of firearms. This knowledge has served him well as a law enforcement officer and as a student of firearms, their history, and ammunition. Noted arms historian Thomas B. Nelson is considered a legend in the field of firearms in general and assault rifles in particular. While in the U.S. Army, Nelson was assigned to Foreign Material Section of the Ordnance Museum at Aberdeen Proving Ground. At Aberdeen, he attended the Army Ordnance Technical Intelligence School. Later, while stationed in Virginia, he worked in the conventional weapons division of the Technical Intelligence Agency. After military service, Nelson worked at Interarmco (later Interarms) for nine years. In 1963 he published the classic reference The World's Submachine Guns, and in 1967 he coauthored the original volume of The World's Assault Rifles with Dan Musgrave. He was the founder of Collector's Armoury, Ltd. 2000+ Photos Nillustrations
