I know most of the readers of this forum are very knowledgeable and are aware that for any given manufacturer there is a definitive "catalog" detailing the companies history and products. However, for those that might not be familiar with some of these "catalogs", I'd share this review of the S&W one.
If you've done any reading of the S&W Forum
http://smith-wessonforum.com/ you're aware that this is pretty much the end-all, be-all book on S&W. Written by Jim Supica and Richard Nahas, it is in its 3rd edition. The book is a full size, 8-1/2"x11", hard-back covering over 400 pages of history, by model, of all the guns made by S&W. Includes the early models, the numbered revolvers, the semi-automatics, rifles, shotguns, knives, belt buckles, ammo, posters, ads, gimmicks and giveaways. It is written from a collectors point of view with suggested values for each model. Supica is currently the director of the NRA National Firearms Museum.
http://www.nramuseum.org/the-museum/the-curators.aspx and has written numerous articles for the American Rifleman and other publications.
For each model, the book covers the basic history, the variations, production codes and engineering changes. The book is in full color and contains pictures of almost every model. It would be impossible to find, much less include, pictures of ever possible variation, but some of the more interesting variations are shown. One of the most sought after sections of this book is the serial number ranges and they are covered in detail. It should be noted that the serializing of the massive numbers and models of guns isn't a straightforward thing. Sequence number blocks overlap. Some sequences were used for some models and others for other models. New blocks were started before exhausting the older ones. S&W can date exactly any given gun, but trying to make a comprehensive chart is still a daunting undertaking. Using the tables and what is known about features and revisions of each model you can date most guns within a year. If you need it more accurately dated you can contact S&W directly for a letter of authentication.
My interest is primarily in 1980's big bore, 6x and 6xx series, but it wasn't like I wasn't aware of the enormous breath of S&W offerings. However, after just a few minutes with the book I was overwhelmed with enormity of what this book covers. First it should be noted that while S&W helped the authors, given the voluminous records at S&W it's impossible to cover everything about all models. Also a lot of S&W records are only in hard copy and trying to make sense of all that information is quite an undertaking. In addition a lot of "historical" information is only available from the employees, former and present, and some of it has been lost. However, as different variations of guns are discovered, researched, and documented some of the clues provided help fill in the bigger picture. As S&W digitizes their historical records, I'm sure a lot more things will become clearer. This is the third edition and I bet the authors have already amassed a large file of new things to include in the next edition.
As I indicated this is a "collectors" manual. If you're just a casual M&P shooter you won't find much information. But if you have several old Smith's or are interested in buying or selling S&Ws, then this is an invaluable resource. There are some other books on S&W, but none as comprehensive as this one. While it generally lists for over $40, if you search on-line and don't want immediate shipment you can get a new copy of the book for under $30.
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