Firearms by Kenneth Chase

Firearms: A Global History to 1700

by Kenneth Warren Chase

In Firearms: A Global History to 1700, historian and attorney Kenneth Warren Chase traces the history of firearms from their invention in China in the 1100s to the 1700s, when European firearms had become clearly superior. The central question Chase explores is why it was the Europeans who perfected firearms and not the Chinese.

Chase answers this question by examining how firearms were used throughout the world. He argues that early firearms were best suited for infantry and siege warfare, which limited their use outside of Europe and Japan. In contrast, the warfare styles of the Middle East, India, and China were dominated by steppe and desert nomads, who employed a type of warfare that was incompatible with the early technology of firearms.

By the time firearms technology improved enough to counter the nomadic threat, Japan had entered a period of self-imposed isolation. This left Europe with no rival in the fields of firearms design, production, or use—a historical advantage that would have lasting and significant global consequences.