Even a 450-page coffee table book can’t picture or summarize every significant weapon since the Egyptians bounded across the Sinai in chariots, but Military History finds space for many of them. Profusely illustrated and handsomely arranged, the chronicle runs from stone axes through assault rifles, triremes through aircraft carriers, zeppelins through drones. Certain themes are followed, especially the contest between offensive and defensive armaments, the arms races between nations and the inevitable impact of technology on warfare.