FACTUAL REVIEW: Early Firearms 1300-1800 - Michael Spencer

Release Date: 10/05/08

SYNOPSIS:

This book provides a general summary of the history of European firearms, from the earliest designs which appeared during the Middle Ages through to the mechanised weapon production of the Industrial Revolution. Covering the dual inventions of gunpowder and the gun, the development of reliable firing mechanisms, improvements in accuracy and rate of fire and the revolutionary changes brought about by the application of scientific and industrial processes, Michael Spencer explains the technical evolution of the firearm and analyses what drove these changes.Built around an accurate dating framework, this is an invaluable resource for both military historians and firearms collectors, and includes an array of illustrations of rare firearms, difficult to find elsewhere in print.


REVIEW:

Whilst many are familiar with the swords and armour throughout history, very few are as up to date with the firearms that were to become the lead decider on the battlefield. As such to find a title that deals with this period of history of these fascinating weapons of destruction (which could be just as damaging to those who fired the things) is a real find.

Here in this Shire book by Michael Spencer, is a title that presents the history in an easy to understand way, taking you though the various developments so that you can see the battlefields of old in a new light. It’s clever, its reader friendly and rather than bog you down with unnecessary detail, and it’s a book that keeps it all too easy to understand parlances rather than all the technical. For me, as a reader it was a wonderful excuse to conduct some research and with the myriad of images to back up the title, it’s a book that I will be referencing quite a few times when I write either historical fiction or fantasy as some of the weapons within are the result of either a genius or a madman (and you know how close those two can be at times.) Wonderful.