Blitzkrieg: The MP40 Maschinenpistole of WWII

The Germans fielded their first pistol-caliber fully automatic weapon, the MP18, I machine pistol, in the last months of World War I. Largely ignored by the victorious allied nations the Germans however saw great potential in the concept and continued development in the post war era. In the first month of World War II the Germans fielded the revolutionary MP38 weapon. Just a little over a year later the Germans introduced the MP40 machine pistol. While the MP38 changed the way machine pistols looked, the stamped sheet-metal MP40 revolutionized the way they were made. This book includes the history and development of the German machine pistol from the MP18, I to the MP40. Chapters include: The MP28.II-the evolution begins, The Bergmann machine pistols, The Erma EMP, Steyr-Solothurn, The MP36-the missing link, The MP38 and MP40, The Aberdeen Proving Ground trials, The German influences of U.S. weapon design, MP40 Production, Contractors and subcontractors, Waffenamt-marks and proof marks, Detailed stripping, and much more! 275pp.