Soul of the Sword

Book excerpt: Mankind's history has been determined by war. And throughout history, the way that wars are won and lost, and whether they are fought at all, has been determined more by weapons than any other single force. Before there was man, there were weapons. In his investigation of arms and culture, noted military historian Robert O'Connell goes all the way back to the first weapons: the claws, horns, and hooves of our evolutionary antecedents. Even then, a species' weaponry determined its future. So it has been for the human animal. From the ancient Assyrians' conquest of bronze, to the Toledo steel of the Spanish conquistadors, to the MIRV missiles of nuclear deterrence, the great weapons have set their own agendas. They continue to shape our culture and our lives today. THE SOUL OF THE SWORD gives world history from a club, gun, or aircraft carrier's perspective. Along the way, sidebars and drawings from premier military illustrator John Batchelor illuminate the weapons themselves. In this fascinating book O'Connell unearths the extraordinary weapons of our past, and explains our most basic weapons as never before. Our killing tools are much more than fearsome curiosities; they are the engines of history.