Firearms A Global History to 1700 Kenneth Chase, Cambridge University Press

Firearms
A Global History to 1700
Kenneth Chase

This book is a history of firearms across the world from the 1100s up to the 1700s, from their invention in China to the time when European firearms had become clearly superior. It asks why it was the Europeans who perfected firearms when it was the Chinese who had invented them, and answers this question by looking at how firearms were used throughout the world.

Early firearms were restricted to infantry and siege warfare, limiting their use outside of Europe and Japan. Steppe and desert nomads imposed a different style of warfare on the Middle East, India, and China – a style with which firearms were incompatible. By the time that better firearms allowed these regions to turn the tables on the nomads, Japan's self-imposed isolation left Europe with no rival in firearms design, production, or use, with consequences that are still with us today.

Kenneth W. Chase is an attorney at the law firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen and Hamilton. He received his Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University and his J.D. from Stanford Law School.

• Published: May 2008 Cambridge University Press
• format: Paperback
• isbn: 9780521722407
• length: 288 pages
• dimensions: 229 x 152 x 18 mm
• Used, good condition