Firearms: A Global History to 1700 [Hardcover]

Kenneth Chase (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521822742 | ISBN-13: 978-0521822749 | Publication Date: July 7, 2003

Kenneth Chase traces the history of firearms from their invention in China in the 1100s to the 1700s, when European firearms had become clearly superior. In Firearms, Chase asks why it was the Europeans who perfected firearms, not the Chinese, 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 incompatible with firearms. 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 lasting consequences. After earning his doctorate from Harvard in the area of East Asian Languages and Civilizations and traveling extensively in Asia, Kenneth Chase pursued a career in the law. His interest in history endures unabated, however, and after nine years of research on firearms, he is now working on a history of international trade in the Indian Ocean region in the 1300s and 1400s.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Although firearms were invented in China and avidly taken up by the Ottoman Empire and other states, by 1700, European guns were the best in the world. This salient aspect of Western military superiority-perhaps the most important development in modern history-receives an insightful new analysis in this cogent study. Chase, a lawyer with a Ph.D. in East Asian languages and civilizations, considers, and rejects, arguments for Europe's exceptional technological, cultural or political advantages, focusing instead on specific military constraints faced by Old World civilizations in the early modern era. Non-European states, he argues, were preoccupied with raising cavalry forces to defend against fast-moving mounted steppe nomads, a context in which early firearms-heavy, slow-firing, inaccurate and unmanageable on horseback-were all but useless. In Western Europe, by contrast, battles revolved around walled fortresses (which were stable enough platforms to make use of primitive cannon and handguns), and were fought by infantrymen (who were big and slow enough targets to be hit by them). The greater utility of guns in Europe, the author contends, favored their widespread adoption and rapid improvement, which in turn stimulated revolutionary innovations in military organization and drill in European armies. Chase weaves a wealth of information on firearms technology into a lucid description of the interplay of geographical, logistic and economic factors in the warfare of the period, paying special attention to oft-neglected developments in Asia. His immersion in the details enlivens rather than bogs down his arguments, and the result is a well-written and compelling reinterpretation of a watershed in military history. B&w illustrations, maps.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"The gun (cannon, musket, rifle, machinegun, etc.) has been the prime tool of war for most of a thousand years. The Chinese invented it, but it was the Europeans who refined it and made it an instrument of world hegemony. That mysterious migration of technology and obsession from east to west is the subject of Kenneth Chase's insightful book, along with what firearms did to and for Turks, Mughals, Japanese, and all the rest of us."
- Alfred W. Crosby, Professor Emeritus, University of Texas, Austin

"Kenneth Chase's book is indeed a delight and a great achievement. His central claim is that each of the major agrarian governments of Eurasia used gunpowder weapons in a rational way, and that difference depended on geographical circumstances, not on cultural traditions or soldiers' stubborn affection for horses. The breadth of information and the precision of his interpretation are exhilarating. Chase unites extraordinary learning with even more extraordinary wisdom and presents them to us in easy, graceful prose."
- William H. McNeill, Professor Emeritus, University of Chicago, author of The Pursuit of Power: Technology, Armed Force and Society Since A.D. 1000(1982)

"The particular value of this wide-ranging and well-written work on a crucial period in military history is its author's strong grasp of the situation in East Asia. It is unusual to have such a specialist write more widely on the topic, and this gives Chase a distinctive voice. His particular concern is the relationship of nomads to firearms and he carefully links this to the respective success and failure of individual military systems. Chase's book will play a major role in the discussion of early-modern military history."
- Jeremy Black, Professor in History, Exeter University

"A tour de force of scholarship that should become a fundamental text and resource for all interested in world and Asian history."
- Arthur Waldron, Lauder Professor of International Relations, University of Pennsylvania

"Few works on military history do what Chase manages to do here, develop a specific theory in its widest possible context."
- Technology and Culture, Robert Smith

"As a whole, this book is a remarkable tour de force and should become required reading for students of military history.
- Sixteenth Century Journal, James R. Smither, Grand Valley State University

"The comparative breadth of the analysis is commendable." - Jonathan Grant, Florida State University

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 310 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (July 7, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521822742
• ISBN-13: 978-0521822749
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,130,007 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly concise, lucid, and very, very interesting!, December 20, 2003

By 

Bryan (Greensboro, North Carolina United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Firearms: A Global History to 1700 (Hardcover)

I usually don't go for history books that deal with the time period of Chase's book. But this book is the exception to that rule. Chase's expertise comes from simply being interested in the topic. He's not even a "professional historian" i.e. someone who gets paid to write books like this. He is in fact an attorney who just had an interest in how nomads and firearms are connected and why it was that Europe perfected firearms when it was Asia, specifically China, that invented them. He takes the reader through a huge span of history and through several sections of what he refers to as "the Oikoumene", or that which encompasses Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and some other small areas. Chase methodically explains the evolution and application of firearms and gives historical context for both his ideas and his explanations. This was a great read, and since I am very interested in military history, this book filled in the majority of the pieces missing in my understanding of early-modern military history. Mr. Chase, I'd just ask you one favor: write another book so I can buy it and enjoy it as much as I enjoyed this one.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Informative, but...., May 9, 2004

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Firearms: A Global History to 1700 (Hardcover)

This small tome is well-written and quite erudite, but _desperately_ needs illustrations of the actual firearms! There is only *one* image of a specific firearm, and it is merely a simple line-drawn schematic. The very few other illustrations are just "fillers".

The book could and should have been so much more. Still, the high quality of the text and the research is enough for any firearms enthusiast and/or historian to add it to their collection.

4.0 out of 5 stars Great read, but not for fun., August 21, 2011

By 

Joshua Germany (Augusta, GA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Firearms: A Global History to 1700 (Paperback)

Great read, but not for fun. In reading this book I learned a lot about the history of firearms and development of a new tyoe of warfare. I would have given it 5 stars but for the simple fact it wasn't the easiest read. Don't get me wrong I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it wasn't a difficult read, but as with any non-fiction it isn't something you take to the beach. It requires thought - and it is well worth it.

For the record, I came in to this novel with very little background knowledge regarding the history of Asia, but that did not hinder me. Buy it, read it and learn.