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The Military History Book: The Ultimate Visual Guide to the Weapons that Shaped the World
From the siege towers and catapults employed by ancient invaders to the unmanned drones and stealth bombers used by today's armed forces, the mastering of superior technology has always played a critical role in determining an army's chances of success — or defeat.
Following in the footsteps of DK's esteemed military history titles Military History is the definitive guide to the development of battlefield technology through the ages, from Bronze Age Mesopotamia to the War on Terror.
Organized chronologically and by key military technology, Military History: The Definitive Visual Guide to the Objects of Warfare covers the iconic weapons, armor, equipment, and battles that have defined war through the ages, showing the impact of changes in military technology on the very fabric of history.
Following in the footsteps of DK's esteemed military history titles Military History is the definitive guide to the development of battlefield technology through the ages, from Bronze Age Mesopotamia to the War on Terror.
Organized chronologically and by key military technology, Military History: The Definitive Visual Guide to the Objects of Warfare covers the iconic weapons, armor, equipment, and battles that have defined war through the ages, showing the impact of changes in military technology on the very fabric of history.
447 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 17, 2012
100 people are currently reading
525 people want to read
About the author
D.K. Publishing
9,125 books2,067 followersDorling Kindersley (DK) is a British multinational publishing company specializing in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 62 languages. It is part of Penguin Random House, a consumer publishing company jointly owned by Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA and Pearson PLC. Bertelsmann owns 53% of the company and Pearson owns 47%.
Established in 1974, DK publishes a range of titles in genres including travel (including Eyewitness Travel Guides), arts and crafts, business, history, cooking, gaming, gardening, health and fitness, natural history, parenting, science and reference. They also publish books for children, toddlers and babies, covering such topics as history, the human body, animals and activities, as well as licensed properties such as LEGO, Disney and DeLiSo, licensor of the toy Sophie la Girafe. DK has offices in New York, London, Munich, New Delhi, Toronto and Melbourne.
Source: Wikipedia.
Established in 1974, DK publishes a range of titles in genres including travel (including Eyewitness Travel Guides), arts and crafts, business, history, cooking, gaming, gardening, health and fitness, natural history, parenting, science and reference. They also publish books for children, toddlers and babies, covering such topics as history, the human body, animals and activities, as well as licensed properties such as LEGO, Disney and DeLiSo, licensor of the toy Sophie la Girafe. DK has offices in New York, London, Munich, New Delhi, Toronto and Melbourne.
Source: Wikipedia.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
September 28, 2019
Military history is as old as history itself. Since the dawn of mankind, man has been warring and fighting with each other for resources and other reasons that don’t really beg an explanation. The basic idea is of The Other, the Stranger is different from us. Therefore we can take their stuff with impunity. The tools and methods of warfare have evolved quite a bit from the discovery of metals like copper and iron. In this well-illustrated and finely annotated book, we trace the art of warfare from the past to the modern age.
So the authors are made up of people from the Smithsonian and other foreign institutions. The Smithsonian might need an introduction if you are from another country, so here we go. The Smithsonian is an American Institution that focuses on history and research. It contains important pieces of American History and other things that are really interesting. I have never been there, but I know it is a massive complex.
This book goes chronologically as best as it can. It starts with stone-age weapons and moves on to metal weapons and armor. Each section starts out with a timeline that chronicles the major events of the time period. The book spends a page or two on each idea and moves on. Each piece of equipment has a little annotation that explains what it is. The timeline becomes clearer with the development of history and writing since we can tell what happened in battles and so on. So it covers battles that changed the course of history and people that precipitated these changes. For example, the book covers Alexander the Great and one of the most impressive battles he was in.
The book also talks about fortifications and plans for buildings. It covers famous fortifications like the Great Wall of China along with smaller places specific to the country we are talking about.
Eventually, mankind discovered gunpowder and was able to harness it to deadly effect. The initial weapons of gunpowder were not very effective compared to the guns of today but were still deadly enough to make them useful. It has little images that demonstrate how to load a matchlock musket for example.
Finally, the book has little discussions about famous battles and battle tactics. It has the approximate date of when the battle happened, who was involved, and the tactics put to use. The Siege of Lachish, The Siege of Osaka Castle, The Battle of Issus, The Battle of Mohacs, The Battle of Lepanto, The Battle of Hastings, and more are all discussed in this book. It makes for a fascinating read.
So the authors are made up of people from the Smithsonian and other foreign institutions. The Smithsonian might need an introduction if you are from another country, so here we go. The Smithsonian is an American Institution that focuses on history and research. It contains important pieces of American History and other things that are really interesting. I have never been there, but I know it is a massive complex.
This book goes chronologically as best as it can. It starts with stone-age weapons and moves on to metal weapons and armor. Each section starts out with a timeline that chronicles the major events of the time period. The book spends a page or two on each idea and moves on. Each piece of equipment has a little annotation that explains what it is. The timeline becomes clearer with the development of history and writing since we can tell what happened in battles and so on. So it covers battles that changed the course of history and people that precipitated these changes. For example, the book covers Alexander the Great and one of the most impressive battles he was in.
The book also talks about fortifications and plans for buildings. It covers famous fortifications like the Great Wall of China along with smaller places specific to the country we are talking about.
Eventually, mankind discovered gunpowder and was able to harness it to deadly effect. The initial weapons of gunpowder were not very effective compared to the guns of today but were still deadly enough to make them useful. It has little images that demonstrate how to load a matchlock musket for example.
Finally, the book has little discussions about famous battles and battle tactics. It has the approximate date of when the battle happened, who was involved, and the tactics put to use. The Siege of Lachish, The Siege of Osaka Castle, The Battle of Issus, The Battle of Mohacs, The Battle of Lepanto, The Battle of Hastings, and more are all discussed in this book. It makes for a fascinating read.
October 3, 2019
Smithsonian Military History, 2012, 448pp., ISBN 9780756698386, Dewey 355.009
Largely a collection of photos of armor, weapons, uniforms, medals, vehicles, ships they happened to have examples of.
Missing is an overall narrative of the significant changes in warfare.
Largely a collection of photos of armor, weapons, uniforms, medals, vehicles, ships they happened to have examples of.
Missing is an overall narrative of the significant changes in warfare.
April 9, 2022
This is one of those great books to have kicking around on your coffee table; a quick guide to the wars and weapons of human history, with pleasing illustrations and enough references to get your feet wet on the general topic of warfare in our world.
Military history is an extensive study, and this book doesn't go into depth, but that isn't its purpose. It serves as a solid introduction and visual guide that gives us the crib notes on when, why, and how humans battled each other through the ages.
Military history is an extensive study, and this book doesn't go into depth, but that isn't its purpose. It serves as a solid introduction and visual guide that gives us the crib notes on when, why, and how humans battled each other through the ages.
April 17, 2022
An absolute beast of a book and the ultimate tome for military history.
This weighty volume successfully covers military history from prehistoric times to the modern day (~2010) without spending too long on a single era. The structure provides a really easy to read format containing pages that give an overview of each era, equipment used and examples of pivotal battles in each. In typical DK fashion these are accompanied by a smorgasbord of brilliant taken pictures and captions for all of them.
A must have for any military history enthusiast or general history fan, just be prepared to lift it around everywhere while reading it!
This weighty volume successfully covers military history from prehistoric times to the modern day (~2010) without spending too long on a single era. The structure provides a really easy to read format containing pages that give an overview of each era, equipment used and examples of pivotal battles in each. In typical DK fashion these are accompanied by a smorgasbord of brilliant taken pictures and captions for all of them.
A must have for any military history enthusiast or general history fan, just be prepared to lift it around everywhere while reading it!
October 1, 2023
Excellent book.!
Military history at a glance. Would like more info about the engine factories... weapon industry and their brands... as much as the airplanes and tanks. And why not... ships too. Would like too... about the military clothes. And last but not less important.. the definition of bullets gauge; I think is important understand the size and gauge...mm, 7.62, .08.. not so clear and who determine it... for all everything... images and descriptions at a glance as I said... are great visual description..!
Military history at a glance. Would like more info about the engine factories... weapon industry and their brands... as much as the airplanes and tanks. And why not... ships too. Would like too... about the military clothes. And last but not less important.. the definition of bullets gauge; I think is important understand the size and gauge...mm, 7.62, .08.. not so clear and who determine it... for all everything... images and descriptions at a glance as I said... are great visual description..!
September 29, 2016
This book took me on an adventure through warfare of all periods in time, from the wooden club to nuclear submarines. It included detailed pictures of the weapons and battles throughout all of human history. It described everything about the weapons and the armaments of tanks, ships, and planes. I think Gareth Jones described these weapons perfectly and even described their place of origin. I would recommend this to people who like history and who are a bit older.
November 19, 2013
A beautiful reference work to Military History - hundreds of photos and pictures bringing life to every period of history and every culture you could think of. A military museum in a book!
November 12, 2016
Frickin amazing!
January 29, 2024
A decade ago, to be a soldier in one's own country was to defend the pride of one's homeland, and it was not regrettable to lose one's life during wartime. At least, if you look at the pictures in this encyclopedia.
However, it becomes clear that the war is actually a business set up by warmongers and has nothing to do with national pride.
Soldiers became a rental system, and instead of a country-to-country situation, it became an ideology-to-ideology situation.
This book is useful for learning about past military history, but it is clear that it is not a history that humans can be proud of.
However, it becomes clear that the war is actually a business set up by warmongers and has nothing to do with national pride.
Soldiers became a rental system, and instead of a country-to-country situation, it became an ideology-to-ideology situation.
This book is useful for learning about past military history, but it is clear that it is not a history that humans can be proud of.
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June 1, 2025Swords, spears, axes, and armors. Human history has always been interesting, but none drives it more than competition and warfare. What tool outcompeted what? What tactic destroyed another? How did changing environments affect the weaponry? Europe used the horses that was available to them, Aztecs used the obsidian available to them, the Carthaginians used elephants! A civilization that was not good at warfare was one that was raided and destroyed. “History is told by the Victors” as the saying goes. With this definitive guide, you can see how tools and weaponry changed from swords to gun powder, and also the interesting and historically significant battle throughout human history.
February 20, 2020
The usual DK picture book. And I think the format is getting dated. It was amazing at the dawn of desktop publishing, but by now it's just a uniform template used by many publishing groups. And, of course, there is nothing ultimate and it's debatable if the current selection qualifies as "weapons that shaped the world".
July 8, 2020
Is one of the best books of military history with illustrations, but the reasons I gave him 4 stars is because I think it skips some mayor confrontations like all the independence movement made in South America, and sometimes I think that the author could expand some battles and key facts in the book.
October 9, 2020
Unreadable on iPad
On my iPad Pro, all I see are sections of each page repeated 4 or 5 times on each page. I tried deleting and reinstalling but the result was the same. How do I get a refund?
On my iPad Pro, all I see are sections of each page repeated 4 or 5 times on each page. I tried deleting and reinstalling but the result was the same. How do I get a refund?
August 8, 2023
It was a good read, as it included weapons from the early eras of war, to the modern era. It included generals, vehicles, armor, medals, and a few other things I forgot to mention. Overall, a nice book to read in your downtime or on a roadtrip due to its length.
March 15, 2025
Another excellent Smithsonian/DK book. Since it covers the entirety of human history the entries are terse but the excellent photography and blurbs make up for that. I find it is best read in short bursts.
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October 20, 2020Focus on Europe.
Photos and pics without necessary information.
Photos and pics without necessary information.
February 2, 2025
3.75 / 5.0
Very detailed. Organization of graphics is a bit awkward
Very detailed. Organization of graphics is a bit awkward
January 4, 2022
To see cutting age weapons and tactics is fascinating, state of the art changes to state of junk fairly rapidly. Leaders can make the difference is the battle will be won or lost. To have some of these real items would be terrific history, each age has its familiar look.
January 10, 2013
beautiful illustrations and very informative text; pored over every picture and read every world
April 5, 2017
Good informational book
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews