The book of V.E. Markevich is a unique encyclopedic publication, in which the author first showed the evolution of domestic and foreign firearms from the time of their occurrence until the middle of the twentieth century. The value and peculiarity of this work is not only in the breadth of the history of the development of handguns, but also in what it is given comprehensively. Data are provided on domestic and foreign military weapons, their relationship and mutual influence. The first three parts of the book were published in a separate edition in 1937 in Leningrad. Most of the book's materials are published for the first time. Description of hunting and sports - small arms, including hunting and sports - small arms revolvers and pistols, as well as weapons of arbitrary types for the period from 1886 to the middle of the twentieth century.