A sweeping history of weapons -- their origins and impact on warfare and society -- from prehistory to the present, including

The Halberd

In the 13th century, Swiss confederates relied on lightweight breastplates, halberd lances, and a democratic style of phalanx warfare that succeeded by agility and speed but ultimately failed against powerful cannons and firearms.

The First Hand Cannon

In the 15th century in France and the Low Countries, arms makers first shrunk down cannons by using bronze, allowing for new mobility. Hand cannons were transported on two-wheeled horsedrawn carriages and could be positioned and fired within minutes. No fortified city in Europe was immune to the threat.

The WheeL Lock Pistol

In one of the serendipitous technological borrowings that helped the West dominate in gun development, arms and clock-makers in Germany in the 16th century developed a new firing mechanism, using a serrated wheel to strike iron pyrite. When the fuse was eliminated, guns could suddenly be carried, shot, and reloaded by fast-moving cavalry.

The Pariskanone

First fired by Germany in March 1918, this cannon shelled Paris from a distance of 80 miles, firing shot as high as 24 miles in the air. Although it killed fewer than 260 citizens, the Pariskanone prefigured the constant terror of intercontinental ballistic missiles. [close]