Part of the Brassey's Modern Military Equipment series, this book looks at the range of high-tech infantry rifles available to today's armies - their design, development and capabilities - as well as the specialist sniper rifles, combat shotguns and other shoulder-fired weapons. The infantryman's best friend is his personal weapon - his rifle. Today's assault rifles, however, are worlds apart from the bulky single-shot weapons of World Wars I and II. The modern assault rifle is light, fast-handling and unleashes a hail of automatic fire at the tough of a trigger. John A. Norris is the author of Anti-Tank Weapons and co-author (with Will Fowler) of Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Warfare.