One often wonders about the origin of hand held gunpowder weapons and thanks to this book, author Sean McLachlan carries us back to the early 14th century to tell us the story of those early projectile weapons.

No one is positive when the first hand fired cannon or handgonne was developed as records are somewhat contradictory. However, we are pretty sure that it was in the 1320s or 1330s that the initial experiments with crude black powder weapons were carried out. As one can imagine, the biggest obstacle was in being able to make gunpowder itself and then to provide a weapon that was strong enough to hold the explosion.

Initial uses of both handgonnes and standard cannon were enough to strike fear into the those on whom they were used. The noise and smoke were frequently enough to turn back invading forces. When larger cannon were used as siege weapons, they were often able to knock down protective walls with some ease. Both of these weapons initially used stone for the projectiles. Later, lead was used for the handgonnes as it proved to be easier to mold than stone and provided a more durable projectile.

As mentioned, initial use of the weapon by itself was enough to turn the tide in many encounters, however, as it became more and more common, it soon became as useful a weapon as the crossbow and long bow, eventually equaling and then eclipsing those weapons on the battlefield. Though less powerful in terms of force than the handgonne, the bow powered weapons were a perfect match for the blackpowder weapons as a bow as more accurate and generally had greater range. It wasn't until much, much later that gunpowder weapons were able to achieve anything close to the range and accuracy of the arrow.

Sean McLachlan's book covers the complete development of these weapons during the 'gunpowder revolution' and also shows how they were used on the medieval battlefield. He then discusses the impact of these weapons and how they were able to help shape history. Throughout the book we are provided not only photographs of extant weapons and the operation of them, but also a goodly number of period illustrations and drawings showing these weapons in battle. This is further enhanced by the art work of Gary Embleton.

In all, it makes for another superb title in Osprey's new Weapons series and is a book that I know you will find as interesting and fascinating a read as did I.

October 2010

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