Cover -- Half Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Introduction -- Chapter 1 Prehistoric And Early Warfare -- The Earliest Military Weapons -- From Precious Metals To Base Metals -- Antiquity And The Classical Age -- The Phalanx And The Legion -- Military Technology Of The Period -- Defensive Weaponry -- Types Of Armour -- Offensive Weaponry -- Arrows -- Mechanical Artillery -- Fortification -- Land Transportation -- Chapter 2 War In The Middle Ages -- The Age Of Cavalry -- The Medieval Knight -- The War-Horse -- The Castle -- Siege Weapons -- The Trebuchet -- Greek Fire -- The Horse Archer -- The Huns And Avars -- The Byzantine Cataphract -- The Turks -- The Mongols -- The Infantry Revolution -- The Crossbow -- The English Longow -- Halberd And Pike -- Chapter 3 The Gunpowder Revolution -- Early Gunpowder -- Serpentine Powder -- Corned Powder -- Gunpowder Recipes -- Refinements In Ballistics -- The Development Of Artillery -- Wrought-Iron Muzzie-Loaders -- Wrought-Iron Breechloaders -- Cast Bronze Muzzle-Loaders -- Cast-Iron Cannons -- Early Use Of Artillery -- Special-Purpose Shot -- Gunnery -- The First Small Arms -- The Matchlock -- The Wheel Lock -- The Flintlock -- Chapter 4 Fortification And Modern Body Armour -- Fortification -- The Effect Of Artillery And Siegecraft On Fortification Design -- The Sunken Profile -- The Bastioned Trace -- Duration Of Early Modern Fortification -- Trench Warfare, 1850-1918 -- The Siege Of Petersburg -- Permanent Fortification During World War I -- The Maginot Line And The West Wall In World War II -- Other Fort Series -- German Channel Defenses In World War II -- Nuclear Fortification -- Body Armour -- New Materials -- Modern Body Armour Systems -- Chapter 5 Modern Small Arms: Shoulder Weapons And Pistols -- Shoulder Weapons -- Smoothbore Muzzle-Loaders -- Rifled Muzzle-Loaders -- Breechloaders.

The Many Uses of Guncotton -- Automatic Weapons -- The Assault Rifle -- Pistols -- Revolvers -- Samuel Colt -- Self-Loaders -- Chapter 6 Machine Guns And Specialty Shoulder Weapons -- Early Manual Multibarreled Weapons -- The Gatling Gun -- Richard J. Gatling -- The Mitrailleuse -- Heavy Machine Guns -- Recoil -- Gas Operation -- Blowback -- Light Machine Guns -- Large-Calibre Machine Guns -- Grenade Launchers -- Single Shot -- Automatic Fire -- Antitank Weapons -- Chapter 7 Modern Artillery -- Cannons -- Rifled Bores -- Recoil Control -- Carriages And Mountings -- Big Bertha -- Fire Control -- Ammunition -- Mortars -- Antiaircraft Artillery -- Heavy Weapons And The Problem Of Fire Control -- Light Weapons -- Antitank Guns -- Recoilless Guns -- Chapter 8 Tanks And Other Armoured Vehicles -- Tanks -- Earliest Developments -- World War I -- Interwar Developments -- World War II -- The Sherman Tank -- Postwar Tank Development -- Other Armoured Vehicles -- Armoured Personnel Carriers -- Amphibious Assault Vehicles -- Infantry Fighting Vehicles -- Wheeled Armoured Vehicles -- Chapter 9 Rocket And Missile Systems -- Military Rockets -- The Congreve Rocket -- Francis Scott Key And "The Star Spangled Banner" -- Rocketry Research And Experimentation -- Barrage Rockets -- Bazookas And Panzerschrecks -- Antiaircraft Rockets And Aerial Rockets In World War II -- Tactical Guided Missiles -- Guidance Methods -- Guided-Missile Systems -- Conclusion -- Glossary -- Bibliography -- Index -- Back Cover.