Book Review - 1,000,000 Years of Weapons, by Zimmerman

[madbadgalaxyman (Robert)]

An edited version of this, my latest amazon.com book review, has just been submitted.
[ my (American) amazon reviews are also under my pen name of madbadgalaxyman ]

The book under review is "1,000,000 Years of Weapons : Tools of War through The Ages", by Dwight Jon Zimmerman, Published in 2012 by Tess Press (= Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers) ,
ISBN:: 9781603762786

Zimmerman is an accomplished military writer with a reputation for well-written and accurate coverage.
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BOOK REVIEW (by madbadgalaxyman)


Title of my amazon Review:
A comprehensive Overview of Weapons of War - Entertaining & Informative & non-technical


Rating: 5 stars.
Why 5 stars : An excellent quick read, which is comprehensive and informative, well-written and entertaining.


Not long after one of our starving distant ancestors first picked up a big rock and used it supplement his meagre food supply by hunting with it, somebody discovered that this powerful “new technology” weapon was also extremely useful for the purpose of injuring, or hunting and killing, a fellow human being who was proving troublesome. Ever since the genesis of our species, humans have frequently found many and varied reasons to visit the most extreme violence upon their fellow human beings, and they have been remarkably resourceful in finding new and ever more devastating tools for doing this.


Whether you love war, or loathe it, you have to admit that war has always troubled humankind, and will probably continue to trouble humankind. No matter that war is so often hell, a realistic appraisal of war and of the human condition and of human politics requires that we recognize the fact that the human mind has used all of its faculties to fashion the most extensive range of weapons, and that enormous reserves of intellect and ingenuity and energy continue to go into the design and building of ever more devastating weapons.


Nearly everything that you can possibly imagine has been ingeniously weaponized during human history and human pre-history…..and even non-mechanical tools such as strategy and leadership and sex and religion have been repeatedly utilized to facilitate warlike aims and activities. This book shines because it presents a comprehensive overview of the innumerable tools that have been invented for use in warfare, providing a bird’s eye view, and a quick and entertaining discussion, of the history and the broader implications of nearly every conceivable weapon.


The numerous entries (one per weapon) are very interestingly written, rather than being technical and too detailed, thereby giving the reader a broad and quick view of each weapon and its implications ;each weapon is described in a few paragraphs of interesting text, which quickly explain: (1) what it is. (2) its invention and its subsequent history. (3) how it has been used, and its broader implications. Each entry is also accompanied by a good photograph or drawing of the weapon, and the large number of weapons described in this book ensures that nearly every important Tool of War is very concisely described. Thus, given that this book is essentially a quick and easy read, it is good to find that it also contains pithy mini-essays on the more obscure topics such as: the dogs of war, the Bo, booby traps, non-lethal bullets, and herbicides.


In addition to entries describing nearly all of the the normal mechanical/physical weapons which were (and often still are) used throughout human history and pre-history, you will also find informative and entertaining short entries on non-conventional (but very important) weapons such as sex, leadership, propaganda, religion, public opinion, militarism, and suicide bombers. (For instance, Cleopatra used her womanly wiles to stop Julius Caesar from invading Egypt…..).
This interesting and well-structured volume is also leavened with a few informative entries about some of the intellectually brilliant (but usually extremely notorious!) Merchants and Engineers and Scientists of war; such as Colt, Maxim, Nobel, Krupp, Khashoggi, von Braun, Oppenheimer.



It shouldn’t just be aficionados of technology and military hardware and military strategy who should read this easy and beautifully written and attractively presented broad-brush Overview of the weapons of war. Indeed, people who study politics and sociology and human behaviour and human cognition should also read it……because a realistic appraisal of the human condition, an understanding of the security and future fate of the various nations, and an assessment of the security of ones own person, require answers to the following questions : :
-What weapons exist, in what numbers, and what are their capabilities?
-How skilled are the holders of the weapons in using them?
-Do those who may and can use the weapons have the will and the desire to fight with them?
-Will they actually use these weapons when they find reason to do so?
Even pacifists need to know the answers to these questions !


We should not get so carried away with our revulsion at the extreme devastation that modern weapons can cause that we ‘look the other way” during detailed discussions of war and weapon systems. War and weapon-systems are an ongoing reality which shows no sign of changing in the near future, so both the pacifists and the war-mongers should study this book in order to help answer a question which is essential to them: who has got which weapons, and what are the capabilities of these weapons, and how willing are the weapon-holders to actually use them?

[clive milne]

Sounds interesting...
I think the comment needs to be made though that the very latest weapon tech is not made public.
Many years ago, I worked for a guy who was ex-US airforce. His role was 'nuclear weapons systems' He made one comment that stuck in my mind; basically, there were weapons available for use back in the days of the Vietnam war that are still classified today... he didn't elaborate further, but implicitly they were used with absolute discretion if at all. I suspect one of the things he was referring to was a low yield fusion device.
ie) there is a way to initiate a fusion reaction that doesn't require a fission trigger. The implications are staggering. It would be feasible to build a device the size of a baseball, have no lower critical mass (so you can dial in your desired yield) and weigh as little as 4kg, it would have no fall-out and could be configured to act as a Neutron bomb.
When I first heard about this, I dismissed it as fantasy.
After reading about South Africa's nuclear program, here:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Mini-Nuke-.../dp/0670869252
I am now convinced that it is real.

Incidentally, Sam Cohen (inventer of the Neutron Bomb) is on record stating that the technology not only exists but had been highly developed by the Soviets for quite some time. His point was that the existence of such a weapon meant that any effort to control nuclear proliferation based on fissile material was thus hopeless.

[madbadgalaxyman (Robert)]

Originally Posted by clive milne

Sounds interesting...
I think the comment needs to be made though that the very latest weapon tech is not made public.

Hi Clive,

Perhaps you were also entertained by my thoughts about war and peace, which is an issue to which I have given long and sustained thought.
(I have been on both sides of the coin; first a peacenik, and then a warmonger...... but now I tend to have a more realistic view of the situation.)

The book is more of a quick and entertaining overview, without much in the way of technical detail, and it doesn't try to come to grips with the very latest technologies or projected technologies. (e.g. its Coverage of robotic warfare, directed energy weapons, and other hot current topics, is quite minimal)

It is really the breadth of coverage that makes the book so thought provoking..... I thought it was a nice concept to try to bring together "most every weapon" in a non-technical level book.

For those of us who want much much more detail about weapons, there are always the infinite numbers of magazines and websites about military technology!

cheers,
Robert

[Renato1 (Renato)]

Originally Posted by clive milne

I suspect one of the things he was referring to was a low yield fusion device.
ie) there is a way to initiate a fusion reaction that doesn't require a fission trigger.

The biggest implication from such an engineering or scientific break through. is that nuclear fusion reactors should then be a cinch. But they still aren't, hence, I'm skeptical about the notion.

Certainly, the Americans were way ahead of anybody when they had free reign to test nuclear devices in the late 1950s - and remain so, after such testing was banned in the early 60s. Recollect that on the basis of that testing they figured out how to do all sorts of things with 1kg of fissionable material, including powering Project Orion type space ships.

I'd be more likely to suspect they found a few things in that testing program that may still be highly classified.
Regards,
Renato

[clive milne]

Originally Posted by Renato1

The biggest implication from such an engineering or scientific break through. is that nuclear fusion reactors should then be a cinch. But they still aren't, hence, I'm skeptical about the notion.

I don't think you can draw a valid conclusion by conflating the engineering challenges inherent in a warhead versus a power station. They are very different beasts. The issue with a reactor is not initiating fusion, it is sustaining it in a stable manner that lasts indefinitely, ie) you need a controlled burn while you are adding fuel and removing the products of fusion. For it to be viable it also needs to be done without the use of tritium. Just because you can't run a commercially viable power station off TNT doesn't mean you can't make a bomb out of it.

[clive milne]

Originally Posted by madbadgalaxyman

Hi Clive,
it doesn't try to come to grips with the very latest technologies or projected technologies. (e.g. its Coverage of robotic warfare, directed energy weapons, and other hot current topics, is quite minimal)

I tried to find some reviews and references to the content of this book but there isn't a huge amount on the web. Of particular interest is the extent to which it identified the media and money supply as weapons...

[madbadgalaxyman (Robert)]

Originally Posted by clive milne

I tried to find some reviews and references to the content of this book but there isn't a huge amount on the web. Of particular interest is the extent to which it identified the media and money supply as weapons...

Agreed.

I am not a specialist in weapons technology, so I hope that he gets it right! It is one of those books that provoke thought, but one can question the accuracy, perhaps successfully.

War has been with us for a long time;
in the ancient city of Jericho, I seem to recall that there are thick walls and also a watch tower, which date back to 7 or 8 thousand years BC......and you don't need walls and a watch tower unless you are expecting largish groups of Thuggish Armed Men to attack your community with well-organized violence!!

Indeed, I agree with you, there are many weapons of a non-obvious kind, such as when media or politicians "beat the war drum".
Financing, as you have indicated, is a major issue, and has often involved nations taking out enormous loans in order to finance a military campaign ("money is the sinews of war")

Wars are fought in many different ways, for many different reasons, as is beautifully argued in "A History of Warfare" by John Keegan, which is a well-written historical overview of war. There is nothing simple about war, and I suppose that is why it is so hard to prevent wars and to prevent massive arms races of the sort that occasionally happen.

cheers, Robert

[clive milne]

Originally Posted by madbadgalaxyman

Indeed, I agree with you, there are many weapons of a non-obvious kind, such as when media or politicians "beat the war drum".

An interesting book which I highly recommend is 'Axis of Deceit' by Andrew Wilke.
http://www.penguin.com.au/products/9...-whistleblower
Or... an SBS documentary on the subject:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMytuwY9F6Q

Originally Posted by madbadgalaxyman

Financing, as you have indicated, is a major issue, and has often involved nations taking out enormous loans in order to finance a military campaign ("money is the sinews of war")

Yes, indeed.
And (well at least since the French revolution anyway) the money invariably traces back to one specific banking dynasty which has not only funded both sides of pretty much every major conflict since that time, is guilty of manipulating many of those conflicts into existence in the first place.

Originally Posted by madbadgalaxyman

Wars are fought in many different ways, for many different reasons, as is beautifully argued in "A History of Warfare" by John Keegan, which is a well-written historical overview of war.

Yes, and it is rare that a truthful account is to be found in the collective public mind, even when it is recorded accurately in the public record. I suppose the conclusion then is that much of history is in fact white washed propaganda written for someone's convenience. It's difficult to have this conversation with the majority of people because their world view is based on the premise that their version of history is more or less correct. The following documentary by the BBC is useful in establishing that that premise is in fact false. From there, the tapestry completely unravels under close inspection.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjOH1XMAwZA

best
c