Artillery

Since the invention of black powder and the development of large cannons, artillery has been considered a gamechanger of global military history. It spelled the end for knights and castles, both of which were unable to resist its powerful impact, and it ushered in radically new warship designs, whose firepower changed the face of sea warfare forever. Artillery was seen as a vital component in the military rise of Europe, with whose armies and navies Asian, African and American native forces were unable to compete. While such ideas continue to exist, the present volumes aim is to approach the history of artillery on a broader scale by taking global developments into account and putting them into perspective. It begins by examining the mechanical artillery of antiquity with its catapults and stone-throwers. The development of the cannon from a cumbersome and unreliable bombard into a modern high-tech weapon was a long process that took centuries to complete. The efficiency of the new weapon was highly dependent not just on improved production techniques but also on transport and logistics, and on increasingly lethal and destructive ammunition. And although artillery has been considered an indispensable part of any army for five hundred years, it remained an auxiliary weapon for a long time until mass deployment of fast-firing, large-calibre, guns during the First World War made artillery the true queen of battlefields. Alexander Querengässers new book gives the interested reader an innovative overview of the history of artillery which appreciates developments both inside and outside Europe. It seeks to examine the many factors which proved decisive for its consistently improving efficiency from ancient times right to the battlefields of the present. More than 200 illustrations will provide the reader with a comprehensive visual impression of the history of this remarkable weapon.