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

Jack Kelly (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 26, 2005

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, Cortés, 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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A faced-paced book that is historical reporting at its very best, with surprises on almost every page. Kelly's writing style is crisp and edgy, perfect for his subject matter."

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.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (April 26, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465037224
• ISBN-13: 978-0465037223
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #879,423 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jack Kelly is the author of five novels and numerous works of nonfiction. He was raised in upstate New York on the shore of Lake Ontario, spent many years in New York City and currently lives in the Hudson Valley. With a wide following among crime-fiction devotees, Kelly has brought a precise and fluid style to the genre. His writing was called "adrenaline in words" by the New York Times. Kelly's novels combine ear-perfect dialog and suspenseful plotting with flat-out action. While pursuing a successful career as a professional writer, the author has volunteered as an EMT, driven a cab in New York, lived in Europe and Central America, and swum the English Channel (twice). His watchword: "The veneer is thin, brother."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A GOOD FLAWED NARRATIVE, June 12, 2006

By 

R. J Szasz "Rod Szasz" (Tokyo, Japan Japan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards, and Pyrotechnics : The History of the Explosive That Changed the World (Paperback)

Reading the other reviews here one would get the impression that Kelly is guilty of some serious flaws in his work. I would think that people like Noman OOOO (reviewer below) is actually guilty of some seriously flawed expectations. (I shall not deal with his expectations of history being amoral -- anyone who writes some rubbish like that has clearly not read any history -- as a quick glance of his book reviews proves: he seems adept on reviews of fantasy books! His moral observations are equally fantastic).

So let's deal with Kelly. He is not a serious student of Gunpowder. He is a narrative historian writing something that should be interesting and enlightening. This he accomplishes admirably. His style and the events he decides to focus upon are very largely wholely subjective. Obviously events like Crecy and the Fall of Constanstinople are pivotal, but other events he describes -- especially his rather American perspective on the importance of the American War of Independence and Civil War -- are wholly his own preference. However he held my interest very well during the whole narrative and I wholly enjoyed his very literate writing style.

It is also of note what Kelly leaves out: there is no description for the British Arms industry; Armstrong-Vickers almost certainly had a greater influence on the development of arms and gunpowder. And that also highlights another "flaw" of this book -- there is a confusion between it being a history of arms and a history of gunpowder.

But all in all what Kelly does write about his writes with flair, heightened tension and he is a very good stylist. I bought it for the airplane and I blitzed through it in about 6 hours. A good read. Is there any higher recommendation...?

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Makes a good case, July 26, 2009

By 

Winters - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards, and Pyrotechnics : The History of the Explosive That Changed the World (Paperback)

This book turned out to be far more interesting that what I expected. It makes a very good case for the argument that gunpowder is one of the most important inventions in history - and you may in fact walk away with the conclusion that it is in fact THE most important. Concise, eloquent, and engaging. Highly recommended.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars moderately interesting, June 12, 2006

By 

noman (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards, and Pyrotechnics : The History of the Explosive That Changed the World (Paperback)

A pleasent bit of fluff. seriously marred by the authors 'moral' interjections about those nasty old soldiers or duelists. Note to author: real historians know better (or they should) than to overlay their perjudices, bigotry and moralistic values on another age. :)
a pleasant read, but don't pay full price.


Try:
The Gun and its Development: Ninth Edition
by W. W. Greener

The Spanish Bride
by Georgette Heyer (fiction, based on diaries of the period. gives a nice overview of the Napoleonic wars)

Bow Versus Gun
by John Smythe

Gunpowder and Galleys: Changing Technology and Mediterranean Warfare at Sea in the 16th Century, Revised Edition
by John Francis Guilmartin

Weapons and Warfare in Renaissance Europe : Gunpowder, Technology, and Tactics (Johns Hopkins Studies in the History of Technology)
by Bert S. Hall