Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards, and Pyrotechnics : The History of the Explosive That Changed the World

Jack Kelly

Basic Books, 2004 - History - 261 pages

When Chinese alchemists fashioned the first manmade explosion sometime during the tenth century, no one could have foreseen its full revolutionary potential. Invented to frighten evil spirits rather than fuel guns or bombs-neither of which had been thought of yet-their simple mixture of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal went on to make the modern world possible. As word of its explosive properties spread from Asia to Europe, from pyrotechnics to battleships, it paved the way for Western exploration, hastened the end of feudalism and the rise of the nation state, and greased the wheels of the Industrial Revolution.With dramatic immediacy, novelist and journalist Jack Kelly conveys both the distant time in which the "devil's distillate" rose to conquer the world, and brings to rousing life the eclectic cast of characters who played a role in its epic story, including Michelangelo, Edward III, Vasco da Gama, Cortez, Guy Fawkes, Alfred Nobel, and E.I. DuPont. A must-read for history fans and military buffs alike, Gunpowder brings together a rich terrain of cultures and technological innovations with authoritative research and swashbuckling style.

What people are saying

Review: Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards, and Pyrotechnics: The History of the Explosive That Changed the World

User Review  - Ray A - Goodreads

Excellently presented history of gunpowder; loved the overview presented on the development of the US gunpowder industry

Review: Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards, and Pyrotechnics: The History of the Explosive That Changed the World

User Review  - Edcon1 - Goodreads

An excellent book that takes the reader from the use of Greek Fire into the development and use of gunpowder and on to the use of explosives in warfare.

Contents

• Fire Drug: 1
• Thundring Noyse: 19
• The Most Pernicious Arts: 39
• The Devills Birds: 55
• Villainous Saltpetre: 73
• Conquests Crimson Wing: 87
• NitroAerial Spirit: 109
• No One Reasons: 125
• What Victory Costs: 135
• History Out of Control: 153
• The Meeting of Heaven and Earth: 171
• Appalling Grandeur: 197
• The Old Article: 217
• Something New: 239
• Sources: 243
• Index: 251

About the author

Jack Kelly is both an accomplished novelist and an experienced author of popular history. He writes regularly for American Heritage, and has also written features about the DuPont family's involvement in the gunpowder industry and the history of fireworks in America. He lives in Milan, New York.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards, and Pyrotechnics : The History of the Explosive That Changed the World; Art of Mentoring Series
• Author: Jack Kelly
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Basic Books, 2004
• ISBN: 0465037186, 9780465037186
• Length: 261 pages
• Subjects: History / Military / Weapons; History / World; Technology & Engineering / Chemical & Biochemical