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Ballantine's Illustrated History of World War II / the Violent Century: Weapons Book #27
the guns 1914-18
OUR COPY HAS THE SAME COVER AS STOCK PHOTO SHOWN. SCUFFING, MINOR FADING AND LIGHT CREASING ON A FEW PAGES, BOTTOM AND TOP OF BACK COVER. NO MARKING OR WRITING FOUND WITHIN BOOK.
160 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
About the author
Ian V. Hogg
189 books21 followersIan V. Hogg enlisted in the Royal Artillery of the British Army in April 1945. During World War II he served in Europe and in eastern Asia. After the war he remained in the military. In the early 1950s, he served in the Korean War. Altogether he served in the military for 27 years. Upon retiring in 1972, he held the appointment of Master Gunner at the Royal Military College of Science, where he taught on the subjects of firearms, artillery, and their ammunition and use. Hogg also had an interest in the subject of fortification and was one of the founding members of the Fortress Study Group in 1975.
His first books were published in the late 1960s while he was still an instructor. After retiring from the military, he pursued the career of military author and historian. He was editor of Jane's Infantry Weapons from 1972 to 1994. He worked with a skilled artist, John Batchelor, to ensure that his books were well illustrated with cutaway diagrams. He contributed articles to a variety of journals, and his books have been translated into a dozen languages .
Hogg has been described by publishing people who worked with him as "an unassuming man, with a gift to pass on [his] knowledge at any level, and often with a dry humour". He was also respected for his professionalism as an author. He was described as "a consummate professional who (unlike most of his peers) usually submitted manuscripts on time, within agreed parameters, and accompanied by all the illustrations."
Hogg was a frequent guest on the History Channel's Tales of the Gun, as well as other military-related television programs.
-Wikipedia
His first books were published in the late 1960s while he was still an instructor. After retiring from the military, he pursued the career of military author and historian. He was editor of Jane's Infantry Weapons from 1972 to 1994. He worked with a skilled artist, John Batchelor, to ensure that his books were well illustrated with cutaway diagrams. He contributed articles to a variety of journals, and his books have been translated into a dozen languages .
Hogg has been described by publishing people who worked with him as "an unassuming man, with a gift to pass on [his] knowledge at any level, and often with a dry humour". He was also respected for his professionalism as an author. He was described as "a consummate professional who (unlike most of his peers) usually submitted manuscripts on time, within agreed parameters, and accompanied by all the illustrations."
Hogg was a frequent guest on the History Channel's Tales of the Gun, as well as other military-related television programs.
-Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 3, 2008
I wrote a book report on this book when I was in sixth grade. My first book report ever. I think that says a lot about me, frankly, but Hogg is a solid author and if you need to know about Great War artillery he's your man.
September 9, 2024
One never goes wrong with Ian Hogg's work. He always presented information concisely and accompanied it with a droll wit. He ensured that there were sufficient illustrations, and he never got lost in the weeds with excessive technical details.
McDonald Publishing and the Imperial War Museum teamed up back in the late 1960s and early 1970s to publish this series of illustrated paperbacks on the history of World War I, World War II (and a few other conflicts of the 20th century), which were picked up by Ballantine Books in the United States.
The books were divided into various topics: battles, campaigns, weapons, biographies, politics in action and they were classified by color bands. The books were overseen by an editing team and were written by well-known historians. They cost a $1.00 USD (approximately $9.00 USD in 2024) and are now out of print. They were packed with photos and maps and were groundbreaking in their layout.
Ian V. Hogg, was as a Master Gunner in the Royal Artillery and covers the key points -- the technicalities and development of the various artillery pieces, the manufacturing of the shells, development of the techniques/doctrines by which they were used in the war, and the various campaigns and battles. Though he didn't have much room he manages to pack this slim volume with a lot of information.
An excellent read for both the casual reader and World War One aficionado.
McDonald Publishing and the Imperial War Museum teamed up back in the late 1960s and early 1970s to publish this series of illustrated paperbacks on the history of World War I, World War II (and a few other conflicts of the 20th century), which were picked up by Ballantine Books in the United States.
The books were divided into various topics: battles, campaigns, weapons, biographies, politics in action and they were classified by color bands. The books were overseen by an editing team and were written by well-known historians. They cost a $1.00 USD (approximately $9.00 USD in 2024) and are now out of print. They were packed with photos and maps and were groundbreaking in their layout.
Ian V. Hogg, was as a Master Gunner in the Royal Artillery and covers the key points -- the technicalities and development of the various artillery pieces, the manufacturing of the shells, development of the techniques/doctrines by which they were used in the war, and the various campaigns and battles. Though he didn't have much room he manages to pack this slim volume with a lot of information.
An excellent read for both the casual reader and World War One aficionado.
February 11, 2024
In spite of its age, this is still a good, workmanlike introduction to the artillery of the major nations of the First World War. The author was an expert in his field - a Royal Artillery Master Gunner - so knows his staff and writes with humour. The book is well-illustrated with phots and line drawings.
In his discussion on some frankly bizarre inventions for anti-aircraft projectiles, he says: "The other point missed by most inventors was that their shells demanded a direct hit on the target ... and of course if this minor factor had been met, a house-brick would have been enough to bring down most of the aircraft of the day, without going to complicated lengths."!
In his discussion on some frankly bizarre inventions for anti-aircraft projectiles, he says: "The other point missed by most inventors was that their shells demanded a direct hit on the target ... and of course if this minor factor had been met, a house-brick would have been enough to bring down most of the aircraft of the day, without going to complicated lengths."!
September 25, 2025
Great book. Gives a lot of knowledge on World War history and weapons. and it also provides wonderful illustrations for us to understand. Loved it .
December 17, 2025
4.5 stars. I came to this book with low expectations and was agreeably surprised.
It is a masterly synopsis of the development and employment of artillery during WW1 - quintessentially, of course, an artillery war. The author was himself a Master Gunner in the British Army from 1945 to 1972, and certainly shows mastery of his craft, discoursing knowledgeably on the guns, ammunition, and artillery tactics of all the major combatant nations of WW1. He mostly stays just on the right side of outright nerdiness, but there is enough detail on calibres, rifling, recoil systems and elevation to satisfy any general reader.
He supplies a number of insights which were new to me, even as a military history enthusiast. A few examples:
The fact that the initial stimulus for development of artillery from cannon which would have been familiar to Napoleon into modern artillery pieces came from navies, who needed guns capable of damaging ironclad battleships.
The success of the secret German super-heavy howitzers against the Belgian forts was not only a great tactical coup - it also encouraged the downgrading of forts at Verdun and Nancy and Przemysl and Czestochowa. In fact these were still perfectly-serviceable - the German engineers found that the Liege forts had been constructed from poor-quality concrete.
And a reminder of the dependence of armies on the horse - a single British field battery of 1914 required 168 horses to move it to war ! Where did they all come from ?
Unusually for military history, the writing style is lively and has a leavening of wit: a paragraph on a US pack-artillery gun gives an example of the author's quirky writing:
"Introduced about the turn of the century, by 1917 it was obsolescent, and a publication of that year records that it was to be replaced.......in spite of this it soldiered on, being used finally in the Philippines in 1944-5, although by then it was ignored in every catalogue and publication dealing with artillery. I am not at all sure it's dead yet, or if it is, I doubt it will lie quiet."
Faults ? When he strays away from his beloved guns into general history, the author is less sure-footed. Having written admirably inclusively about the artillery of all nations, he lapses into the usual Anglocentricity when describing the fighting. The British attack at Neuve Chapelle in March 1915 is described confidently as the first use of artillery preparation/infantry assault against a trench position. Er.......no. Not only the Battles of Bolimow and Augustow on the Eastern Front, but the first French offensives in Artois and Champagne preceded Neuve Chapelle. It is not unusual for "western" accounts to ignore the fighting in Poland and Russia, but curiously the author actually discusses the Battle of Bolimow in some detail in a later section about poison gas !
And he criticises his former colleagues for learning "the wrong lesson" from Neuve Chapelle: that a heavier bombardment was needed to leave no fortifications standing, rather than a more intense one leaving the defenders demoralised. This is simplistic: heavier bombardments WERE needed, because the defenders had also learned, and constructed steadily more robust dugouts and fieldworks. He fails to acknowledge this, or note that other lessons, like the positioning of reserves and the need for better communication from advancing infantry to artillery batteries, were also learned. And the moral effect of brief but intense hurricane bombardments may be somewhat overstated - German survivors of the Somme and Passchendaele have written eloquently about the demoralising effects of the bombardments there - but they still shredded the follow-up infantry attacks handily.
Generally the book is well-presented and the proofreading seems more thorough than in many monographs of this series. An exception is the extraordinary caption to an aerial photo of a gas attack in progress, said to show "infantry advancing behind bursting shells". In fact it clearly shows gas (or smoke) being released from static projectors.
But these are minor quibbles. This is a very good, and very readable, military history book.
It is a masterly synopsis of the development and employment of artillery during WW1 - quintessentially, of course, an artillery war. The author was himself a Master Gunner in the British Army from 1945 to 1972, and certainly shows mastery of his craft, discoursing knowledgeably on the guns, ammunition, and artillery tactics of all the major combatant nations of WW1. He mostly stays just on the right side of outright nerdiness, but there is enough detail on calibres, rifling, recoil systems and elevation to satisfy any general reader.
He supplies a number of insights which were new to me, even as a military history enthusiast. A few examples:
The fact that the initial stimulus for development of artillery from cannon which would have been familiar to Napoleon into modern artillery pieces came from navies, who needed guns capable of damaging ironclad battleships.
The success of the secret German super-heavy howitzers against the Belgian forts was not only a great tactical coup - it also encouraged the downgrading of forts at Verdun and Nancy and Przemysl and Czestochowa. In fact these were still perfectly-serviceable - the German engineers found that the Liege forts had been constructed from poor-quality concrete.
And a reminder of the dependence of armies on the horse - a single British field battery of 1914 required 168 horses to move it to war ! Where did they all come from ?
Unusually for military history, the writing style is lively and has a leavening of wit: a paragraph on a US pack-artillery gun gives an example of the author's quirky writing:
"Introduced about the turn of the century, by 1917 it was obsolescent, and a publication of that year records that it was to be replaced.......in spite of this it soldiered on, being used finally in the Philippines in 1944-5, although by then it was ignored in every catalogue and publication dealing with artillery. I am not at all sure it's dead yet, or if it is, I doubt it will lie quiet."
Faults ? When he strays away from his beloved guns into general history, the author is less sure-footed. Having written admirably inclusively about the artillery of all nations, he lapses into the usual Anglocentricity when describing the fighting. The British attack at Neuve Chapelle in March 1915 is described confidently as the first use of artillery preparation/infantry assault against a trench position. Er.......no. Not only the Battles of Bolimow and Augustow on the Eastern Front, but the first French offensives in Artois and Champagne preceded Neuve Chapelle. It is not unusual for "western" accounts to ignore the fighting in Poland and Russia, but curiously the author actually discusses the Battle of Bolimow in some detail in a later section about poison gas !
And he criticises his former colleagues for learning "the wrong lesson" from Neuve Chapelle: that a heavier bombardment was needed to leave no fortifications standing, rather than a more intense one leaving the defenders demoralised. This is simplistic: heavier bombardments WERE needed, because the defenders had also learned, and constructed steadily more robust dugouts and fieldworks. He fails to acknowledge this, or note that other lessons, like the positioning of reserves and the need for better communication from advancing infantry to artillery batteries, were also learned. And the moral effect of brief but intense hurricane bombardments may be somewhat overstated - German survivors of the Somme and Passchendaele have written eloquently about the demoralising effects of the bombardments there - but they still shredded the follow-up infantry attacks handily.
Generally the book is well-presented and the proofreading seems more thorough than in many monographs of this series. An exception is the extraordinary caption to an aerial photo of a gas attack in progress, said to show "infantry advancing behind bursting shells". In fact it clearly shows gas (or smoke) being released from static projectors.
But these are minor quibbles. This is a very good, and very readable, military history book.
April 30, 2015
An excellent introduction to the transition of artillery that occured in World War I. The revolution in the guns themselves, their recoil methods, tactics, and their mobility was astounding. If you are interested in World War I, where artillery was the dominant weapon, this is required reading.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews