Artillery Through the Ages

Imprint unknown. Good/Fair. 1972. Hard Cover. 8vo 0854220062 Dust jacket worn , torn with chunk missing.. Maroon cloth boards with bright gilt titling on spine, rubbed to upper boards. No ownership marks. Photographs on plates. 230 pages clean and tight. Since before the invention of gunpowder, man's weapons have fallen into two broad categories - personal weapons, and ordnance. With the arrival of powder, and the subsequent increase in the power of weapons, it was realised that ordnance, principally for use in sieges, was a most important innovation. Sieges in the 15th century could last for years, but with the judicious use of mortats and bombards, the walls of a city might -- breached within a few days. Thus, from these crude beginnings, artillery was born. Colonel Rogers has traced io this work the entire h]story of artillery, its use in sieges, in he field and at sea; its value in defense and attack; and its many variations, like rockets and tanks. Starting with the earliest smoothbore pieces he traces its refinement down the centuries, the inventions that carried it forward, and the ideas that set it back. He describes the manufacture of pieces, their ammunition, their limbers and carts and furniture, and the many other accessories that, until the invention of aircraft, made it an army's most powerful arm. This book will delight both enthusiasts and lay readers - it is written with a great deal of technical knowledge subtly blended with an able pen. .