A photo essay examining the design, construction, and uses of hand weapons and armor from a Stone Age axe to the revolvers and rifles of the Wild West.

An in-depth history of the small arms made by the Sterling Company of Dagenham, Essex, England, from 1940 until the company closed in 1989. The Lanchester and the Patchett Machine Carbines were both developed at Sterling Engineering Co Ltd during World War II. With the appearance of the earliest Patchett prototypes the military began testing them in ever more rigorous trials, wherein the Patchett kept proving its merits. This led to limited UK adoption of the MkII Patchett as the L2A1 in 1953, and the “first Sterling,” the MkII, as the L2A2 in 1955. Then came Sterling’s “Crown Jewel,” the superb Mk4, adopted as the general-issue UK “Gun, Sub-Machine, L2A3” in September, 1955. Manufactured briefly but intensively by ROF Fazakerley (1955–1959) and by Sterling for over 30 years, nearly 4,000,000 were made. Unlike wraparound bolt designs like the UZI, the Sterling was capable of being truly silenced with standard 9mm ball ammunition (as opposed to being merely “suppressed”). The excellent silenced Sterling-Patchett Mk5, adopted as the UK L34A1 in 1967, is the only Sterling remaining in British Service. All prototypes, military Marks, commercial and licensed production models of the Sterling are described, including the Canadian C1 SMG and the Indian 1A Carbine. Contains notes on manufacturing methods and procedures as used at Sterling, ROF Fazakerley, Canadian Arsenals Limited and the Indian Small Arms Factory, Kanpur (Cawnpore), plus extensive notes on inter-model interchangeability, serial number ranges, quantities produced, client-country purchases of the various Sterling Marks, and accessories. Praise for A History of the Small Arms made by the Sterling Armament Company “If you have an interest in small arms then this is a book that belongs in your library or book shelf. The book does a great job of providing the reader with the story of the weapons that evolved into the Sterling sub-machine gun and the changes in design that took place over that history. The result was a weapon that served in many fields of conflict and performed admirably.” —Armorama

For this study, a group of Russian authors were commissioned to describe and assess the arms trade policies and practices of Russia under new domestic and international conditions. The contributors, drawn from the government, industry, and academic communities, offer a wide range of reports on the political, military, economic, and industrial implications of Russian arms transfers, as well as specific case studies of key bilateral arms transfer relationships.

The impact of information technology in the field of military decision making is superficially less visible than that of a number of other weapon developments, though its importance has grown steadily since the beginning of the 1980s. Owing to its potential role in modern weapon systems and the prospect of its inclusion as an essential ingredient in many military projects such as the Strategic Defence Initiative, it has become the focus of special interest and efforts. This book is the first attempt to present a broad overview of the prospects for information technology in general, and machine intelligence in particular, in the context of international security. The dangers and promises of weapon and arms control applications of computers and artificial intelligence to decision-making processes are analysed in a technical, strategic, and political perspective by experts from six different countries. In an introductory chapter, Allan Din presents a generic overview of artificial intelligence and its prospects. Thirteen contributors then discuss the conceptual and technical framework of artificial intelligence, analyse implications for weapon systems and strategy, and discuss possible applications to arms control verification and modelling.

DK Eyewitness Arms and Armor is an original and exciting look at the history of weapons and armor through the ages. Stunning real-life photographs reveal the design, construction, and workings of armor, offering a unique "eyewitness" view of how methods of warfare have changed. Show your child the very first weapons ever made, the armor worn by medieval knights, the battledress of a Japanese samurai, and the guns used by the frontiersmen and outlaws of the Wild West. They'll also discover the weapons that were carried by the first police officers, how sword and pistol duels were fought and much more!

This business history analyzes the connections between private business, disarmament, and re-armament as they affected arms procurement and military technology transfers in Eastern Europe from 1919 to 1939. Rather than focusing on the negotiations or the political problems involved with the Disarmament Conferences, this study concerns itself with the business effects of the disarmament discussions. Accordingly, Schneider-Creusot, Škoda, Vickers, and their respective business activities in Eastern European markets serve as the chief subjects for this book, and the core primary sources relied upon include their unpublished corporate archival documents. Shifting the scope of analysis to consider the business dimension allows for a fresh appraisal of the linkages between the arms trade, disarmament, and re-armament. The business approach also explodes the myth of the 'merchants of death' from the inside. It concludes by tracing the armaments business between 1939 and 1941 as it transitioned from peacetime to war.