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Bruce Canfield's New Book, U.S. Small Arms of World War II

dalbert
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dalbert Long Time RKI Member

dalbert

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I was excited to receive a copy of Bruce Canfield's new book, "U.S. Small Arms of World War II" in the mail today. Wow! What an amazing effort, which I know Bruce took several years to complete. I've perused it for 2 hours so far...It's 864 pages long. I will spend many more hours reading it, and I'm certain it will become a well used reference piece in my collection.

 

I really like the layout, and especially the many exceptional colorized WWII photos. Even some photos that we've all seen before in black and white have a whole new perspective to them, as well as hundreds of new photos. This book is worth it for the photos alone.

 

There's not another book with coverage this wide. It has 140 pages on knives! I can't wait to read all the details...

 

Here are some other features:

  • 78 pages on submachine guns
  • 80 pages on grenades!
  • 29 pages on flamethrowers

It also covers handguns, rifles, .30 caliber Carbines, shotguns, automatic rifles, machine guns, anti-tank rifles, Bazookas, recoilless rifles, and mortars.

 

I also saw endnotes and photos attributed to our own Frank Iannamico, Tracie Hill, Tom Davis, Robert Segel, and Charlie Flick, and I'm sure others on this board made contributions, as well. I contributed several photos to the book, one of which I am really happy to see published for the first time. (Vintage M1 Carbine photo)

 

Coverage is not limited to WWII, but that is certainly its focus. It features pre-WWII context where appropriate. Inset photos of collector interest are present throughout the book, and the overall presentation style is quite appealing.

 

This is an epic work. You will not be disappointed.

 

https://gunandswordcollector.com/product/us-small-arms-ww2/

 

IMG_7288.jpg

 

Sincerely,

 

David Albert

dalbert@sturmgewehr.com

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Mike Hammer RKI Member

Mike Hammer

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This appears to be an epic book indeed with that many pages it must be like a phone book. 80 pages on grenades, are you kidding! David, do you know if Bruce is signing any of these and how we might obtain one of those? I always enjoy the personal touch to a book.

 

Mike H.

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dalbert Long Time RKI Member

dalbert

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This appears to be an epic book indeed with that many pages it must be like a phone book. 80 pages on grenades, are you kidding! David, do you know if Bruce is signing any of these and how we might obtain one of those? I always enjoy the personal touch to a book.

 

Mike H.

 

Mike Hammer,

 

Yes, it certainly approaches the size of an old phone book, at least for a medium size city.

 

I'm not aware of Bruce offering signed books for sale, but he is a member of the board, and perhaps he will let us know if signed books may become available.

 

Your mentioning a signed book made me go look at my other Canfield books. He used to sign them at the old Houston Gun Show in the Astrohall. Those were some amazing shows back in the day. Here's a photo of a book Bruce signed for me there 25 years ago...

 

IMG_7290.jpg

 

David Albert

dalbert@sturmgewehr.com

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Bruce Canfield Member

Bruce Canfield

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I appreciate the interest in the new book. I will have autographed and inscribed copies available on my website (www.brucecanfield.com). I ordered what I thought was a substantial number of books from Mowbray Publishing that I thought would last for a month or more and sold out in less than a day. I just re-ordered more books but it will be at least a week before I receive the new shipment.

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Paladin601 RKI Member

Paladin601

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This appears to be an epic book indeed with that many pages it must be like a phone book. 80 pages on grenades, are you kidding! David, do you know if Bruce is signing any of these and how we might obtain one of those? I always enjoy the personal touch to a book.

 

Mike H.

 

 

He does publish big Books, doesn't he

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Mike Hammer RKI Member

Mike Hammer

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The mailman just delivered my copy. The box weighed nearly 7 pounds! The book should be listed as a weapon itself because if someone hit you over the head with it, you will go down, it's BIG! O.K. just kidding. So far I've only had a chance to thumb through it but I can honestly tell you that if you have any interest in WWII and the weapons that were used, (including many of the guns on this site), you will enjoy it.

I'm sure that I will get many hours of enjoyable reading from it and reference it many times in the future. If you are hesitating to get a copy, don't. Many thanks to you Bruce for the exhaustive research that went into it, I'm sure it will be a big seller. And thanks for getting your re-supply out so quickly!

 

Mike H.

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Chip Regular Member

Chip

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Mine came today as well and I agree with Mike H. It's big and hefty. Had to page through it and look at all the great pictures and took just over an hour. There is a whole lot of info on what looks like every handheld weapon used in WW II with some history of how the weapon was develop prior.

 

Thanks Bruce for putting together such a great book. Looks like a lot of work went into it.

 

Chip

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Bruce Canfield Member

Bruce Canfield

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Glad the book arrived okay and hope you enjoy it.

The mailman just delivered my copy. The box weighed nearly 7 pounds! The book should be listed as a weapon itself because if someone hit you over the head with it, you will go down, it's BIG! O.K. just kidding. So far I've only had a chance to thumb through it but I can honestly tell you that if you have any interest in WWII and the weapons that were used, (including many of the guns on this site), you will enjoy it.

I'm sure that I will get many hours of enjoyable reading from it and reference it many times in the future. If you are hesitating to get a copy, don't. Many thanks to you Bruce for the exhaustive research that went into it, I'm sure it will be a big seller. And thanks for getting your re-supply out so quickly!

 

Mike H.

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Bruce Canfield Member

Bruce Canfield

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Thanks Chip. It was a long and laborious process but I am pleased with how it turned out. Glad you like it!

Mine came today as well and I agree with Mike H. It's big and hefty. Had to page through it and look at all the great pictures and took just over an hour. There is a whole lot of info on what looks like every handheld weapon used in WW II with some history of how the weapon was develop prior.

 

Thanks Bruce for putting together such a great book. Looks like a lot of work went into it.

 

Chip

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Bruce Canfield Member

Bruce Canfield

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Hi Bruce,

 

My copy came yesterday; THANK YOU!

I have only glanced through it so far, but I really like the great photography and vintage images; especially the GI with the M3 grease gun with the cocking handle/slot modification. I had never seen a photo with a US soldier with one.

 

Well done!

 

Regards!

Frank

Hi Frank, glad it arrived okay. I sincerely appreciate all the help you gave me with the book.

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