The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II

by Chris Bishop (editor)

World War II spawned a massive variety of weapons systems, many complex and confusing, but all fascinating. This lavishly illustrated volume details the military hardware used in the air, on the seas, and on the ground, by forces around the globe between 1939 and 1945. Covers 1,500 weapons systems, including tanks, small arms, warplanes, artillery, ships, and submarines. Each weapons system is illustrated by detailed profile artwork, together with a photograph showing it in service. Accompanying the illustrative material is detailed text that lists each weapon's service history, the numbers built, and its variants. In this way, readers can compare, for example, the German Messerschmitt Me 109 with the British Spitfire and the American Mustang, or the French Carb B tank with the German Panther. Answers a myriad of questions such as: What were the design features of the German battleship Bismarck? What was the caliber and effective range of the famous Lee-Enfield bolt action rifle? The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II answers all of these questions, and thousands more. In addition, each weapons system has a specifications table that lists performance, dimensions, armament, and crew details. More than 800 color and black and white photographs, more than 600 full-color illustrations. 9" x 11 1/2".

Genres: History, Nonfiction, War, World War II, Military Fiction, Reference, Aviation

544 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Calvin Force · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II, by numerous authors but edited by Chris Bishop, is a nonfiction book covering a massive array of weapons from World War II. There are sections on the rifles used in the war, sub-machine guns, planes, boats, tanks, and a whole lot more. The book covers weapons from the Russians, Germans, Americans, Italians, French, British, Japanese, Czech, and any other axis or ally power in World War II. Each page and each individual object covered has colorful illustrations and cutaways of each object. For example, guns are shown with their inner-mechanisms and planes and tanks are shown with their internal spaces. There are also statistic sheets of each weapon and real-world photographs of the weapons, sometimes even in use.

The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II is an absolute dream for any World War II geek or person who loves facts. The book is loaded with information. This can, however, become a little annoying to people who aren’t the most hardcore of informational-readers. However, it can still be enjoyed even if you don’t want to read all the words because the stat sheets, photos, and illustrations provide plenty of content to enjoy. I would recommend this book most likely to a history buff who’s interested in World War II. I might recommend it to a more normal reader but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, a lot of people might not enjoy the sheer volume of information and words.

[Al Lock · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a bit of a hodge-podge. There is a lot of information here, most of it accurate, but it is more like someone listing the stuff they like then an encyclopedia. It is certainly not exhaustive and the organization can be very frustrating (some weapons, like the P40 and P38, show up in two places - while others, like the F4U, which could show up in 3 - only show in one). Some weapons are simply glossed over (the M5 Stuart, the M36, the M12) while other weapons that either were really of limited use (the Liberator, the Langley, the DeLisle) are noted. Now, given the sheer volume of weapons that were used in WWII, it is understandably a difficult field to cover exhaustively - but this book does claim to be "The Encyclopedia". Oh, and the typos are awful. Needed a good editor who knows the weapons.

[Karsten Earles · Rating 5 out of 5]

World War 2 is often considered one of the largest conflicts in human history, but have you ever stopped and wondered how the war was fought and then won? If so, then The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War 2: A Comprehensive Guide to Weapon Systems, Including Tanks, Small Arms, Warplanes, Artillery, Ships, and Submarines By General Editor Chris Bishop is for you. This title seems way to long, and is a pain to type. Sorry for you all who like reading about prototypes and designs, there are few of these in the book. It is split up into five sections, with many chapters or subsections in each. I will also be only going over my favorite and least favorite chapter(s). I also feel that the purpose of this book is to compile all known used weapons into one book, instead of a historian having dozens of different books.
My favorite part of the book is chapter twenty, infantry anti-tank weapons. I found that the make-shift designs employed by the British, the Northover Projector, and the Soviet Pipe Gun was fascinating, as both were produced at a time of desperate need for any anti-tank weapon, both of these essentially using a black powder charge to shoot glass bottles field with gasoline, oil, etc. the famous Bazooka is included, along with its other variants. Two of the Soviet anti-tank rifles are included, the bulky semi-auto PTRS, and the lighter, simpler bolt-action PTRD. Both have a similar performance, so it is seen that the PTRS is worse, as it is eight pounds heavier than the PTRD, with identical performance. The USSR also used the bizarre and cruel dog mines. The dogs had explosives attached to them with a little metal wire of a wooden pole, and the concept was for them to dive underneath enemy tanks and blow the tank up, and the dog in the process. The flaw in this plan was that the dogs were trained under a Soviet tank, which smells and looks different than a German one, often leading them to get confused in battle and dive under the friendly tanks. The Germans dominate this section, with many different anti-tank equipment being employed. The Panzerschrek was based off of a captured Bazooka, but was 88 mm instead of the 60 mm of the Bazooka. A disposable Panzerfaust was used as well, with variants with a range of 30 meters, 60 meters, and 90 meters. Panzerwurfmines were used as well, they looked like strange oversized-darts but were thrown almost like a baseball instead. Normal German anti-tank grenades usually consisted of a normal grenade fitted with many extra explosive heads tied on the original grenade and stick. Panzerbusche 39s were used as well, but mainly in the beginning of the war. The Puppchen was an odd rocket projector, as it looked like a mini artillery piece, with a folding breach and everything. The wheels were even removable. Luckily for the Germans, as said above, the shortly found out that all that was needed to launch rockets was a simple metal pipe. Much like their kamikaze equivalents, Japanese soldiers would use suicide anti-tank methods as well. The tactics varied from a simple pack with explosives, to foxholes dug beside roads with the soldiers waiting for the tanks with small aircraft bombs. Japan also employed an unusually heavy anti-tank rifle, with an unusually large caliber of twenty mm. Britain mainly employed the PIAT anti-tank weapon. It was odd in the fact that it fired its hollow-charge rounds with a spring, which could jam, or fire on accident. All countries also used Molotov cocktails, a glass bottle filled with multiple flammable substances. Rifle grenades were also used by the British, USA, and USSR, although their effectiveness isn’t too great. The Soviets also create the RPG-43, which was a throw able anti-tank grenade with a hollow-charge warhead.
My least favorite chapters were the truck and light vehicle chapters. The truck chapter seemed extremely long, as it was just transport trucks, and nothing else. As I read this chapter, the words started to blend together as I couldn’t focus, as he different trucks weren’t to incredibly interesting to me. Also, since trucks were used by every nation in the war, there is Italian, German light, heavy, and medium trucks. Luckily, there was only two entries for American trucks, the US medium trucks, but strangely the Dodge WC62 got its own entry. The British trucks made up for the US lack though, with three entries, the Bedford, Hippo, and Matador. Although some may find it interesting, I got this book for the weapons used, not for the transport trucks, even though I do see why they are implemented in the book. The chapter on light vehicles only got a little better, as these were just like unarmored scout cars, or infantry transports. Six entries for German vehicles, the Kubelwagen, Stower 40, Kraftfahrzeug 11, Kraftfahrzeug 15, and the G-5. Italy, Japan, and the Soviets had only one entry each. The USA had five entries, but most of these were more trucks! The British had our entries, while Canada had one. What made it even worse was that these chapters were back to back. Again, I see why they were put in the book, but I found it boring to read.
This book was a great overall read, I enjoyed most of it. I would recommend this book to anyone with a mild interest in World War 2, or even just weapons. This is a great read if you can stick through it, even though there are some extremely boring areas. If you don’t like non-fiction, or if you don’t like to read, then don’t get this book, as it will drive you insane, no matter how much you try to read it. With about 52 chapters included, five sections, and around 600 pages, and small print, this is truly a giant book, great for anyone who likes history.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

By no means comprehensive, and containing its fair share of typos, this book is none the less a great introduction to the weapons (from hand guns to aircraft carriers) that were used in WW2.
A discerning reader can fathom some of the mindsets that went into the making of these weapons, and extrapolate upon the mindsets of the individuals and nations for whom they were made. A fascinating reference book, especially for those writers wishing to fictionalize the world altering events that comprised this conflict.

The notion of two relatively small countries (and their allies) almost conquering the rest of the world with only a relative handful of weapons--an event unequaled since the much more successful Mongol invasions--is staggering, (as is the response of those resisting the event) and this volume helps in quantifying and qualifying the War, even with the obvious omissions.

[Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War Two by: Chris Bishop is the books iv'e been reading as a choice book. This book is an informational book about all of the fighting countries weapons in WW2. It shows each country used and gives a little information on it. I would recommend this book to people who are really interested in the weapons soldiers used back then maybe even for a comparison of our weapons today. I enjoyed the book because I have always been more interested in older weapons and stuff from back then and iv'e always been a fan of call of duty so I liked reading this book and seeing weapons I saw in the game that were real.

[Shane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very good introduction to the most common weapons used during WW2. It doesn't just cover guns, it also covers tanks, tank destroyers, planes, amphibious vehicles, half tracks, armoured cars, trucks, self-propelled guns, artillery, submarines and ships. The book provides the vital statistics of each 'weapon' as well as a brief history of it. This book is a very good starting point if you wish to learn more about a fairly wide variety of WW2 weaponry.

[Adrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

If your looking for a complete Encyclopedia of all the weapons systems(nearly all) used during the course of the Second World War then this book would make a nice edition to your ww2 library.

There are a few missing entries(like the Bf-109 Fighter,god knows why this was missed out),but overall a good reference book.

[keereads · Rating 4 out of 5]

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[Teufel Wolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview of the major weapon systems of WWII.

[Leonardo]

Esta está mucho mejor. Lástima que a mi versión le faltan las últimas páginas (igual estas cosas mucho mejor sería tenerlas en papel) y que está en inglés. Pero tiene fotos, descripciones, especificaciones, dibujos.