Firepower: How Weapons Shaped Warfare

by Paul Lockhart

The “fascinating” (Wall Street Journal) story of how military technology has transformed the world

The history of warfare cannot be fully understood without considering the technology of killing. In Firepower, acclaimed historian Paul Lockhart tells the story of the evolution of weaponry and how it transformed not only the conduct of warfare but also the very structure of power in the West, from the Renaissance to the dawn of the atomic era.

Across this period, improvements in firepower shaped the evolving art of war. For centuries, weaponry had remained simple enough that any state could equip a respectable army. That all changed around 1870, when the cost of investing in increasingly complicated technology soon meant that only a handful of great powers could afford to manufacture advanced weaponry, while other countries fell behind. Going beyond the battlefield, Firepower ultimately reveals how changes in weapons technology reshaped human history.

Genres: History, Military History, Nonfiction, War, Technology, Military Fiction, Audiobook

668 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 19, 2021

About the author

Paul Lockhart is a history professor at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. His first four books are about the history of Scandinavia, but in 2006 he decided to write for a broader audience and hence returned to his roots in early American history. His fifth book, THE DRILLMASTER OF VALLEY FORGE: THE BARON DE STEUBEN AND THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN ARMY (HarperCollins, 2008), was his first wide-release title.

Lockhart's latest book, THE WHITES OF THEIR EYES: BUNKER HILL, THE FIRST AMERICAN ARMY, AND THE EMERGENCE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON (HarperCollins, 2011), tells the story of that famous battle and challenges some of the most enduring myths -- and misperceptions -- about that battle.

Paul Lockhart lives near Dayton, Ohio, with his wife, Mary, and their five-year-old son, Alex ... plus two cats and two dogs.

Reviews

[Tom Brennan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read more books on military history than I can count. In each of those books, the technology of war entered in at some point. But I have never read a book dedicated solely to the subject. While I would not label the result fascinating, it was both interesting and informative. Lockhart sets out to cover about four hundred fifty years, loosely from the first use of firearms in Western armies to the end of WWII. Along the way, he discusses everything - gunpowder, manufacturing, the gradual increase in reliability, rate of fire, and accuracy, the corresponding changes in tactics, the rise of artillery, etc. He is at his best in describing how revolutionary those early changes were, and in discussing things like the changes brought about by the machine gun, etc. In the end, the book felt rushed as he sought to take it all the way through the end of WWII. Too many technologies moving too fast to account for basically. Other times, the book drifted into the pedantic, but I grant that is almost impossible not to do with such a subject.

Overall, though, good book.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comprehensive History. This tome - and yes, at 600+ pages of dense yet readable text, "tome" certainly applies - is easily the most comprehensive history of guns and firepower I've ever come across. Covering nearly 600 or so years from the mid 15th century's initial adoption of guns in scale to medieval Europe (thus breaking the hold of the pikemen) to their ultimate forms in WWII era Europe and the beginning of the age of rocketry, this book covers all of the great innovations in all level of firearms from small arms to artillery to naval and, finally, air, cannons. Those looking for exacting details on particular developments will probably want to look for more specific books about the particular development you're interested in, but as an overview of the field, this book truly does a phenomenal job of showing the various developments of firearms and how they shifted the way nations make war - thus shifting the very way nations work, period. All of the high points most anyone who knows anything about guns knows are here, and there is actually quite a bit here that this reader - who generally considers himself decently well-versed in history - had never heard of, such as the naval battle at Turkey in the middle of the 19th century that saw the first heavy use of explosive shot and thus signaled the beginning of the end of the wooden naval ship. Utterly fascinating work, if long. Still, truly very much recommended.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprisingly good and thoughtful account of the evolution of firepower — mainly cannon and firearms — from the 1300s through the Second World War. A heavy tome, but immediately approachable with excellent writing and insightful analysis. The book appears to be designed for general audiences with only a modest amount of citations available on the end notes, but more serious students of history will likely find a useful nugget here and there.

I did find myself wondering about the authors stance on the typology of innovations and whether some trends constituted revolutionary change vs something more incremental. But while the author doesn’t dwell on the theories behind these issues, you do get a sense of his views given his final comments about how the pace of weapons innovation has slowed since the Second World War as evidenced by the continued reliability and popularity of the AK-47.

[Bastian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a sort of opposite viewpoint from most military history books. A history of warfare, told from a technological perspective. Laying bare not just the civil causes of war, but also how technology shaped, and in some cases, enabled them.

And meanwhile, thoroughly readable and fascinatingly intricate. I -surprisingly- loved this book!

[Urey Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is an extensive niche genre that covers weapons and weapon systems – their history, their use – this rifle, that aircraft, a ship, a type of firearm or class of weaponry. This book is not one of those! To be sure, there is much history of the assorted weapons and systems that underlay the concept of firepower, and you will learn much, much of that fascinating in its own right, without having to deal with the specialized and technical jargon those topics so often entail. However, this comprehensive history is more expansive than that.

Going back to medieval times when gunpowder first became a significant battlefield actor that had to be accounted for, Lockhart conducts a superb history of how the evolution, science and technical improvements of the components of firepower affected not just the history of warfare, but also the development and history of the political entities among whom warfare occurred. It is superbly done. He explains the battlefield rationale that led to the castellation of Europe, and the subsequent demise of castles in favor of fortifications. The effect that the rise of navies had on the formation of nations and national governments. The economic imperatives driven by the advancement of firepower and the unavoidable issues of hugely rising scale and cost that resulted, and continue to drive policies, issues and doctrines. He makes a compelling case that warfare is one of the single most important factors to understanding Western history – the 30 Years War, the Hundred Years War, the medieval warrior aristocracy and its inevitable diminution, the forces leading into the Great War and a somewhat contrarian view of the underlying reasons for the battlefield slaughters that occurred. His chapter on Lessons Learned from World War I is a triumph of perception, intelligent analysis and nuanced independent thinking well worth the reading alone.

Lockhart concludes his delightful guided tour of the history of the Western civilization as formed and forged by Firepower in the aftermath of World War II. It is a trip well worth taking – as enjoyable to read as it is informative, engaging and educational. This book is a treat – a wonderful reading experience for the student of history and of warfare.

[Paul A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paul Lockhart covers an extremely wide range of technologies and tactics in his book. He starts off with a very thorough and readable overview of early gunpowder weaponry and their implementation. As he moves forward in time, the rate at which this technology develops proportionally increases, until the very end of his book, where he covers aircraft, armored vehicles, and submarines. It's a whirlwind tour of developing weapons technologies which feels almost frantic at the end.

It's still an immensely enjoyable book to read and his prose manages to convey the drama and high stakes of weapons technologies. I would absolutely read this again and I find that it will serve nicely as a jumping off point for any number of historical topis.

[Pete · Rating 5 out of 5]

Firepower : How Weapons Shaped Warfare (2021) by Paul Lockhart is an excellent history of firearms and other weapons from around 1300 to the present day. Lockhart is a history professor at Wright State University. Firepower looks at 700 years of history through the lens of firearms and manages to have aspects of big picture history but without getting too abstract.

The book is divided into four parts, The Gunpowder Revolution that covers 1300-1800, The Age of Revolution 1800-1870, The Revolution in Firepower 1870-1918 and The Twilight of Firepower 1918-1945.

Each section describes the changes in artillery and firearms of the age and their impact on warfare and the states that waged war.

The Gunpowder Revolution looks at how early canon made castles effectively obsolete and how this reduced the power of barons and lords while the power of monarchies increased. The role of the Knight had already been reduced by archers and pikemen but matchlocks furthered this. Cannon on ships also dramatically altered naval warfare and increased the cost of navies for monarchs.

The Industrial Revolution and the rise of better engineering and its impact is the subject of The Age of Revolution. The appearance of the rifle, the changing role of artillery and the new ironclads altered weapons and warfare more in decades than had changed in the hundred years preceding 1800. Large conscript armies also appeared.

The section of the book covering the 1870 to 1918 shows how further engineering would create machine guns, artillery with high explosive shells, dreadnoughts and submarines. Again the cost of these weapons rose and only the largest and richest powers would really be up to date. The section on WWI and how it was an artillery war where the generals tried different tactics is really interesting.

The final section looks at the radical changes in weapons and warfare after the First World War. The change from higher powered lower fire rate rifles to faster firing weapons and portable machine guns is fascinating. The changes in Airpower from WWI to the end of WWII are covered as planes go from biplanes to jet aircraft. The enormous impact of submarines and aircraft carriers and their role in WWII is the subject of another chapter.

Finally nuclear weapons and their role closes out the age of firepower.

What Firepower does so well is to pack a huge amount of historical detail into many readable chapters. While anyone with an interest in weaponry will probably know some of the facts it’s hard to imagine anyone who reads the book not learning a considerable amount. Firepower does what it sets out to do superbly.

[Dennis Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Firepower: How Weapons Shaped Warfare by Paul Lockhart is an excellent historical survey regarding its eponymous subject. It draws favorable comparisons to the Pursuit of Power, another book trying to engage with the herculean task of technological change and the practice and conduct of war. There's a pretty hefty emphasis on Europe, with other locations coming in mostly in passing reference. This is understandable, as the study of major advances in modern warfare from the 1300s to the Second World War is largely a story of European warfare, but I would have liked a couple of asides to other places. Regardless, this is an easily accessible piece of military history and its intersection of the history of technology. Key figures and inventions make their appearance where relevant, as is the political backdrop. It took me quite a while to read through, but it was well worth it.

[Parker Constantino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely well put together book. One of the most and if not the most descriptive and in depth book about firepower and the innovation and technological changes that were made. It goes through the years from 1300-1945 about all the innovations that were made. It really puts into perspective how much changed and how firepower is what is most important. And that the end of each chapter it does a very good job of summarizing it and keeping to the overall theme. My favorite quote is the end of the epilogue “if warfare created the modern state, then it is was firearms that created modern warfare.” I would highly suggest this book to anyone who likes history and can sit and read through a long book!

[Jakob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember that as a kid I had a fascination with weapon technology. This interest is still there, and this book held my attention all the way through.

It is accessible and somewhat technical. It tells the story of how the urge for survival can drive innovation like nothing else. It shows how step-wise developments rapidly spread and often enhanced multiple weapon technologies. It tells the story of an accelerating capacity of destruction came together with the industrial revolution, culminating in the nuclear bomb, leaving the world changed and restricted in that unlimited force between countries no long was a sane proposition.

If the topic compels you, then read it.

[Israel von Niederhauser · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was fantastic. An incredible well of knowledge. A must read by anyone interested in military history and wanting to understand how the weapons and the invention of new weapons changed warfare and shaped history. I felt the explanations were clear to understand and quite interesting. Trying to understand all of the diagrams of the inner working of rifles and machine guns at times was difficult to follow but I understood most of them after slowing down and really trying to visualize it. If there are any that are hard to follow there is always YouTube to get a visualization that's not possible in a book. Truly an impressive book

[Ron Nurmi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lockhart looks at the evolution of gunpowder weaponry and how it shaped the art, science, and practice of war from the Renaissance to the atomic age. This is an accessible look at weapons and about half the book is devoted to weapons from about 1870 to the present. He covers land, sea, and air weapons.

[Brian Asalone · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting review of weapon development. It goes into a bit too much detail when discussing rifle improvement which were extensive and rapid. But when discussing broader effects of a military arms race, it was riveting. It is depressing to think we are still caught up in this process as enormous sums are spend for this instead of social support.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting history that discusses the evolution of firearms from the 14th Century till modern day. I though the early chapters slow because I knew much of that history. However, as gun smithery transitioned from art to science the step by step adjustments, the successes and failures throughout the ages and how the technology impacted tactics, warfare, politics and ultimately society.

[Rob Tarling · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like recent history, this is a great read on the history of gunpowder weapons and how they shaped the development of the modern world. It's enjoyable for anyone who loves history, technology, or simply a well-told story. Some chapters resonated with me more than others, so that's why it only got 4 stars.

[Peter Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent history of how changes and advances in weaponry shaped the very way how conflicts were planned and executed since the arrival of gun powder. In the modern era as we see drone capability again changing how conflicts are waged, this is a poignant reminder that the evolution of warfare is one of constant innovation and change.

[Megan Tee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really helped to describe the shaping of firearms until the modern day. It's actually very solid and the descriptions were succinct that even though I knew almost little to nothing about weapons it was relatively easy to piece it together.

[Larry Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative review of the development of weapons over history. A good read!

[Drew Venegas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb.

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strong survey of firearms technology placed in historical context. I didn't always agree with the authors'conclusions but found them thought provoking.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not much of a story, mostly facts

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A deep look at how weapons and ammo have evolved and the ramifications of these advances have had on the warrior. It is worth the time investment to read.

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome walk through of the major technological changes of war

[Michael Albalah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really really interesting and well researched, very applicable to modern questions

[Sam Curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good overview of fireams through history. learnt a lot.