The latest Vickers Guide book is now available: WWII Germany, Volume 2. Where the first volume focused on bolt action rifles and submachine guns, this second volume has the really cool stuff: semiauto and select-fire rifles, machine guns, and last-ditch arms. It also includes a section on presentation pistols. And fair disclosure; I was one of the contributing authors, so you will find some of my bylines in the book.

The Vickers Guide series are not meant to be reference books, but rather gorgeous coffee-table material. The photography that James Rupley brings to them is just fantastic; a quality you will not find in any other firearms print material. That said, the books have been getting slowly more detailed in their text commentary over time, and this one includes sections from a bunch of subject-matter experts - you might just learn something while looking between the photographs!

Of particular note in this book in terms of rarity are both early and late pattern FG-42s (and their accessories), a Grossfuss StG, an StG45(H), MG-30, MKb42(W), and a folding-stock G33/40 rifle. If you are interested in German WWII small arms, it is not one to miss.