Weapons of the Navy Seals: 6

Mercenaries, arms merchants and military reenactors will delight in this exhaustive, obsessively detailed compendium of knives, pistols, shotguns, assault rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, explosives and ammo used by the celebrated commando outfit through the years. Historian and gunsmith Dockery covers virtually every weapon ever hefted by a Navy SEAL from World War II onward, chronicling the often byzantine development processes of significant weapons like the M-16 rifle and the M-60 machine gun, taking note of modifications introduced in successive models or improvised by soldiers in the field, and providing intricate explanations of firing mechanisms that only engineers will be able to follow. Specs are summarized in short, catalog-style entries listing a plethora of data, including rate of fire, range and the dimensions and weight of the weapon and its components, right down to the carrying sling. The thickets of technical information are occasionally relieved by short, action-packed stories of SEALS wreaking havoc on their enemies (""the rain of steel-jacketed 7.62mm projectiles cut through the ranks of the Al-Qaida sic""). Casual readers may find their eyes glazing over, but hard-core military buffs will deem this a valuable reference. Photos.