I am very excited to finally be able to formally present to you Chassepot to FAMAS: French Military Rifles 1866-2016! After about 3 years of work, it's finally here and shipping. My goal with this book was to create a reference guide that would allow someone to identify any French military rifle they would encounter, be it in museums, gun shows, auction, and collections.It covers military rifle designed and built in France, and has 10 chapters comprising more than 530 pages: Chassepot, Gras, Kropatschek, Lebel, Berthier, RSC, MAS 36, MAS semiauto, FR, and FAMAS. within each chapter is a history of the design, variations, markings, production dates and totals, combat use, bayonets, mechanics, and more. The photography is outstanding, and it really shows. James Rupley's efforts in that area have made it the best-looking firearms reference book ever published, if I may be so bold as to make that claim. This is not a typical book full of dark black-and-white photos.

While there are a few other books in English on French rifles, none is even remotely close to the scope of mine. This is a must-have resource for anyone interested in French arms, or who collects them. Perhaps this is a biased opinion since it comes from the author, but I am confident that outside review will back me up.