The World's Worst Weapons (From Exploding Guns to Malfunctioning Missiles)

by Martin J. Dougherty

Book Overview

Some weapons are winners; some are epic failures. Here are the ones that went really wrong, from Germany's Zeppelin Bomber to the US Navy's Nimrod. In times of war, scientists and inventors developing... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0760785813
• ISBN13: 9780760785812
• Release Date: January 2007
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble/Amber Books Ltd.
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.

Customer Reviews

One-Stop Shopping Guide to Dud Weapons!

Ever since Cain grabbed a rock, men have labored to perfect new and more deadly weapons. Martin J. Dougherty's book is a tribute to those im-perfect weapons consigned to the dustbin of history. Whether they failed because they were impractical, poorly designed or more dangerous to their user than their intended victim, these weapons consistently raise the same question: WHAT was the designer thinking of?!? Dougherty describes some 150 weapons, divided into five categories: Personal & Infantry Weapons; Vehicles & Artillery; Aircraft & Missiles; Ships and Naval Weapons; and Miscellaneous Weapons. Each weapon rates a two-page spread. A one-page summary is followed by a full-page profile drawing or photograph of the weapon, often in color. Among the wonder weapons covered in this book are: The 'Apache Pistol,' which combined a knuckle-duster, a knife and a small-caliber revolver; dead-end aeronautical designs like the Boulton-Paul 'Defiant,' Northrop XP-56 and Vought F7U 'Cutlass;' Russia's 1871 circular-hull 'Novgorod' coast-defense ship; the Maginot Line; America's M60A2 tank with its god-awful Shillelagh gun/missile system; the 'Davy Crockett' nuclear bazooka; the 1885 Sims-Dudley Dynamite artillery piece; the German 'Krummlauf' shoot-around-the-corner device; and so on. Some of the weapons included in Dougherty's book may surprise readers - the F-104, Sten gun, USS Monitor, etc. - but the author usually does a good job of making his case. Anyone interested in weapons and/or military history would probably enjoy this Amber Books title. The entries are short, sweet but always interesting. And, since B & N offers their own edition, WORLD'S WORST WEAPONS can be picked up for a song on their Remainder tables.