The Development of Firearms and the Rise of Europe

“A casual observer of early modern European culture would be forgiven for missing the presence of guns. None of the many deaths in the plays of Shakespeare are caused by gunshot. Far more attention has been devoted to the impact of print than to firearms, although many people who never read a book or pamphlet must have fired a gun. Yet over the course of the sixteenth century, the handgun made the transition from novel and decisive military technology to become an everyday object, in use across society and carrying a new set of cultural associations that would persist through the coming centuries. This was the firearm revolution.” (p. 237)

On July 10, 1584, Prince William of Nassau (remembered as “William the Silent”) leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish Habsburgs, was fatally wounded by a shot from a wheel-lock pistol at close range, becoming the first head of state assassinated with a hand gun (James Stewart, regent of Scotland, had been killed by a sniper with a matchlock carbine 13 years earlier on January 23, 1570.)

In the elite culture of the sixteenth century guns were widely regarded as diabolical and cowardly; weapons that enabled low-born peasants to kill their social superiors. But as firearms came to dominate the battlefields of the seventeenth century, this view would rapidly change.

This meticulously researched and superbly illustrated book examines the growing role of guns in European culture, with a specific focus on Italy. Established in 1526, the Italian firm of Beretta, claims to be the world’s oldest continuously operating weapons manufacturer. Gun barrels forged by Beretta in Gardone Val Trompia near Brescia equipped the Venetian fleet at the Battle of Lepanto (October 7, 1571).

The book consists of nine thematic chapters, organized in three parts and a conclusion.

Part I: The Military Context

1. The Italian Wars

2. The Arms Industry of Brescia

3. Arms Dealers and Auxiliary Industries

Part II: Beyond Warfare

4. Court Culture and Luxury Weapons

5. Gun Proliferation

6. Gun Control

Part III: Beyond Italy

7. Assassinations

8. Visual Culture

9. The European Empires

Conclusion

The chapters on “Gun Proliferation” and “Gun Control” - divisive political issues in our own time - are particularly relevant.

The text is enhanced by 52 well-chosen monochrome illustrations, and a section of 32 color plates, including museum piece weapons, period tapestries and paintings.

Readers with an interest in early modern military history will likely learn a great deal and find much to enjoy in The Firearm Revolution. The author showed remarkable persistence and skill in accessing obscure Italian archives, and ferreting out the documentary evidence that illuminates and supports her argument. The publisher is to be congratulated for including so many high quality illustrations in a book that is still reasonably priced.

Catherine Fletcher is professor of history at Manchester Metropolitan University. Her previous books include The Roads to Rome (2024), The Beauty and the Terror: An Alternative History of the Italian Renaissance (2020), and The Black Prince of Florence: The Life of Alessandro de’ Medici (2016).

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Our Reviewer: Mike Markowitz is an historian and wargame designer. He writes a monthly column for CoinWeek and is a member of the ADBC (Association of Dedicated Byzantine Collectors). His previous reviews in modern history include To Train the Fleet for War: The U.S. Navy Fleet Problems, 1923-1940, From Ironclads to Dreadnoughts: The Development of the German Battleship, 1864-1918, Venice: The Remarkable History of the Lagoon City, The Demon of Unrest, Next War: Reimagining How We Fight, Habsburg Sons: Jews in the Austro-Hungarian Army, Hitler's Atomic Bomb, The Dark Path: The Structure of War and the Rise of the West, The Last Hot Battle of the Cold War, Operation Title: Sink the Tirpitz, A Light in the Northern Sea, A Street in Arnhem, British Naval Gun Mountings, The Indian Rebellion, 1857-1859, Dread Danger: Cowardice and Combat in the American Civil War, From Ironclads to Admiral, The Battleship New Jersey, Guibert, Fortification and Siegecraft, and The Windfall Battleships.

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Note: The Firearm Revolution is also available in e-editions.

StrategyPage reviews are published in cooperation with The New York Military Affairs Symposium

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