Soul of the sword : an illustrated history of weaponry and warfare from prehistory to the present / Robert L. O'Connell ; illustrations by John Batchelor.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

O'Connell, Robert L.

Contributor:

Batchelor, John H.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Military weapons--History.

Military weapons.

Weapons--History.

Weapons.

History.

Military art and science--History.

Military art and science.

Physical Description:

390 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Other Title:

Illustrated history of weaponry and warfare from prehistory to the present

Place of Publication:

New York, N.Y. : Free Press : Distributed by Simon & Schuster, [2002]

Summary:

It is Axiomatic to say that war has driven and shaped human history. Yet a corollary to this truth is far less well understood: weapons have driven and shaped war. Major conflicts have turned on the success or failure of the weapons involved, and entire strategies have been created around the existence of key weapons. Putting the corollary together with the axiom, weapons reflect better than almost anything else the changes, fears, and desires of man and society.

In Soul of the Sword, a noted military historian and senior intelligence analyst at the National Ground Intelligence Center, Robert O'Connell, offers a comprehensive and fascinating history of weapons from the primitive mace to the nuclear warhead. Throughout, he focuses on their impact on the course of warfare and on society. O'Connell's narrative is accompanied by illustrations by John Batchelor, the world's premier military illustrator, covering everything from the first Western gun to the Mosquito bomber.

By focusing on the relationship between weapons and the societies that produced them, O'Connell is able to answer some of the greatest puzzles in military history. Why did China develop gunpowder but fail to develop the gun? Why did the ancient Greeks fight in phalanxes, even though so many died by sheer trampling? When and why has arms control ever worked? Which wars were won purely by the superior industrial capacities and weapons development of the victors? O'Connell explains how Germany could have won World War I if it had not suspended its policy of unrestricted submarine warfare; why there were virtually no significant advances in weaponry for decades prior to World War II; and why the vaunted jet planes of the United States are not all they're cracked up to be. By combining the perspectives of technology, economics, and sociology, Soul of the Sword offers a sweeping view of the history of civilization through the lens of its most destructive impulse. Soul of the Sword will delight history lovers and will stand as a classic for years to come.

Contents:

1. A Most Ancient Talisman 1

2. War's Arrival 17

3. History Poised on the Tip of a Spear 29

4. Ghost Riders 45

5. Imperial Treadmill 67

6. At Sea 93

7. Tubes of Fire 111

8. Guns Away 137

9. Gun Control 157

10. Death Machines 181

11. Steaming Through Troubled Waters 207

12. False Pinnacle 235

13. Accidental Armageddon 249

14. Grudge Match 285

15. Cold War

Inferno of Arms 323.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [367]-378) and index.

ISBN:

0684844079 :

OCLC:

50420180