The Lewis Gun: 34 (Weapon)

Very useful and detailed book about the Lewis gun. In just 80 pages, this book tells you how the Lewis gun was made and originated from as well as his it was used effectively in warfare for infantry, vehicle's and aircraft. It amazes me that a World war 1 LMG was still used in service in WW2 and even after the two world wars.

Enjoyable and surprising through work.

An interesting and informative book.

very interesting

My father lugged a Lewis Gun across bits of India just before WW2, and I've always had a soft spot fot it (despite his comments about weight and stoppages).With the 100th Anniversary of WW1 upon us, the Lewis was a good choice from Osprey, and Neil Grant has delivered a fine survey of an important weapon.I'm struck by how much there was to cover here, with variants I didn't know about and users I'd only just heard of. We get a good development history, a mark-by mark study, but I think most importantly a good look at the Lewis in action as part of an organisational and tactical system. It's a pity that this was almost completely missing from the logic partner to this title, Osprey's book on the Vickers Maxim by the series editor, Martin Pegler. This matters as - as the author points out - the Lewis's impact was as much tactical as technical. This side is covered with good use of primary texts such as training manuals, and user memoires, and, importantly, is integrated with the artwork and photographs. This last is something that can be missed in the Weapons series, where colour plates sometimes feel tacked on at the last minute, and photos are on occasion "And here's a guy with a XXXX". This integrated approach was also a feature of the same author's book on the Bren, and adds greatly to the success of the book,

Disclaimer - I actually know Neil and have helped with photography for his next book.Very much in many ways a prequel to Neil's book on the Bren. This looks at one of the most iconic light machine guns of the early 20th century. Despite being a bit of a weapons buff, I found much I didn't know in this book, in particular the variants created late in the weapon's life. With a weapon that saw widespread service by necessity sections on minor users were a bit brief for my taste but that is to be expected by the size limitations for the series. In contrast the sections on tactical use, weapon ancillaries and the rivals were very well done with very well chosen quotes from users. The illustrations are nicely done and very varied and many of the photos were new to me. Highly recommended for those with an interest in the period, in particular the creation of the light machine gun doctrine.

After reading the books on the Mauser and Bren there was only one thing left to do.Of course buy a book about the Thompson, but I could find one so I read Neils book on the Lewis gun instead,An excellent study of the Lewis, one of the most versatile and loved (can one say loved about a machine gun?) of the light machine guns of its period. I wish he had more space to delve into Colonel Lewis's life though and show the thousands of other invention that he was involved in or the details of the argument with Crozier. The book told me against everything I had learnt about the Lewis Guns whilst reading a dozen other books and a whole lot more.Well worth getting to complete your set

Enjoyed this slim well illustrated book learning much about a gun that had such an impact on warfare for over half a century. The paintings were evocative and photos interesting especially author's comments. Also like the look at Lewis appearances in film and TV - even in Star Wars tho I agree it is most impressively used in that weird version of Richard III, who knows when that was supposed to be set but it is a great movie.Looking forward to the next book on the Bren.