I was excited to receive a copy of Bruce Canfield’s new book, “U.S. Small Arms of World War II” in the mail today. Wow! What an amazing effort, which I know Bruce took several years to complete. I’ve perused it for 2 hours so far…It’s 864 pages long. I will spend many more hours reading it, and I’m certain it will become a well used reference piece in my collection. I really like the layout, and especially the many exceptional colorized WWII photos. Even some photos that we’ve all seen before in black and white have a whole new perspective to them, as well as hundreds of new photos. This book is worth it for the photos alone. There’s not another book with coverage this wide. It has 140 pages on knives! I can’t wait to read all the details… Here are some other features: – 78 pages on submachine guns – 80 pages on grenades! – 29 pages on flamethrowers It also covers handguns, rifles, .30 caliber Carbines, shotguns, automatic rifles, machine guns, anti-tank rifles, Bazookas, recoilless rifles, and mortars. Coverage is not limited to WWII, but that is certainly its focus. It features pre-WWII context where appropriate. Inset photos of collector interest are present throughout the book, and the overall presentation style is quite appealing. This is an epic work. You will not be disappointed.
