The saga of human civilization has been formed and scarred by conflict. At each stage of our history there have been defining episodes of violence, sometimes long and simmering, at other times sudden and cataclysmic. And each stage has produced new forms of weaponry. Some of these weapons of war have been decisive, such as the terrifying war elephants deployed by Hannibal at the battle of Cannae in 216 B.C. Others have become iconic in our culture. Chief among these is the AK-47 - symbol of communism, and now of terrorism, and the most widely found firearm in the world. Some weapons have been definitive in their simplicity, such as the bayonet; in other cases, such as the Tomahawk cruise missile, the sheer complexity is dazzling. Fifty Weapons That Changed the Course of History tells the story of the last 3,500 years through the weapons that have shaped it. The technical specifications, startlingly illustrated, are given context and meaning by explaining their part in human conflict and their long-term legacy. More than a manual of material, this is the story of the weapons that formed our world.

Author Biography

Joel Levy is the author of more than a dozen books, including Newton's Notebook, Great Scientists, Mad Science (revealing the secret histories of madness, magic, and mysticism among great inventors and scientists), The Doomsday Book (a guide to scenarios for the end of civilization), History's Lost Treasures, and the forthcoming History's Worst Battles.