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Jack Kelly
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Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards, And Pyrotechnics: The History Of The Explosive That Changed The World Hardcover – April 13, 2004

by Jack Kelly (Author)

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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, Cortez, 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.
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  1. Print length
    272 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Basic Books
  4. Publication date
    April 13, 2004
  5. Dimensions
    6.75 x 1.25 x 9.75 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0465037186
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0465037186
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Editorial Reviews

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This story-filled chronicle of gunpowder extends from its invention in China about a millennium ago to its last use in battle during the American Civil War. Kelly covers the main points about the explosive--what it's made of, how it's made, who made it, and the evolution of gunpowder-powered weapons. They spelled the end of the walled city and the mounted knight, which Kelly illustrates through the 1453 Ottoman conquest of Constantinople and the 1346 Battle of Crecy. From such exemplary applications of gunpowder's noisy, smoking appearance on the battlefield, Kelly repairs to the laboratory to relate what early chemists such as Robert Boyle or Antoine Lavoisier discovered about how gunpowder exploded and what others figured out about the ballistics of shot. With similarly lively portraits of figures who chaperoned gunpowder to its technical peak in the 1800s, the Du Ponts on the manufacturing side, or the inventors of revolvers and rifled arms on the weaponry side, Kelly accesses history through technology. A skillfully done treatment with solid popular potential. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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.

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Jack Kelly

Jack Kelly

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Jack Kelly is an award-winning author and historian. He has published works of narrative nonfiction focusing on the Revolutionary War and early America. The New York Times called his writing “adrenaline in words.”

Just as the musical "Hamilton" generated a new appreciation for our first Treasury secretary, so readers of Jack’s latest book, GOD SAVE BENEDICT ARNOLD: The True Story of America's Most Hated Man, will be amazed by the dynamic, courageous, and death-defying character of a man who, yes, was also a traitor.

As an author, Jack specializes in bringing to readers a taste of the reality of the past, letting them smell the gunpowder and savor the adrenaline of combat.

Jack has received the DAR History Medal and is a New York Foundation for the Arts fellow in Nonfiction Literature. He has written for many national publications, and has appeared on The History Channel, National Public Radio, and C-Span. He lives and works in New York’s Hudson Valley.

Check out Jack's popular Substack column "Talking to America."

https://jackkellyattalkingtoamerica.substack.com/p/talking-to-america