The author, Steve Raw, spent 24 years as a Royal Marine, most of his service career as an Armourer. As such he was one of those 'at the coal face' when the SA80 was introduced into the British Forces in 1985. Subsequently he went on to instruct at the Small Arms Wing at Bordon where the British Army and Royal Marines train their Armourers. As such he is just the man to tell the story of the SA80 'the reluctant rifle'. This marvelous book covers the developement of the weapon system from its earliest trials up to the beginings of the A2 upgrade which is currently in service in Afghanistan and Iraq. A book which pulls no punches, it is nevertheless an objective study, not an armourers rant on a weapon system which many feel is still nowhere as good as it should be! The book also covers the sad demise of the Royal Ordnance factory at Enfield Lock and the sell off of Royal Ordnance once the order books were full. Well written and very readable, with a wealth of technical detail, the book contains 360 pages with 382 illustrations in the form of B&W and colour photos and many line drawings. Size 225mm x 288mm. Hard back with dust jacket. ISBN 0-88935-303-4. Stock No 27/25. PLEASE NOTE: Postage will be via Standard Parcel to the UK and by Surface mail (8-10 weeks delivery) to the rest of the world.