Product details
Biographical note
Bill Harriman is Director of Firearms at the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, and appears regularly on British television as part of the team of experts on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow program. A former Territorial Army officer with 18 years’ service, he is also a forensic scientist dealing with cases involving firearms, ammunition and other weapons.
Adam Hook studied graphic design, and began his work as an illustrator in 1983. He specializes in detailed historical reconstructions, and his work features in exhibitions and publications throughout the world.
Alan Gilliland spent 18 years as the graphics editor of the Daily Telegraph, winning 19 awards. He now writes, illustrates and publishes fiction (ravensquill.com), as well as illustrating for a variety of publishers (alangillilandillustration.blogspot.com).
Although muskets delivered devastating projectiles at comparatively long ranges, their slow rate of fire left the soldier very vulnerable while reloading, and early muskets were useless for close-quarter fighting.
The development of the flintlock musket produced a much less cumbersome and faster-firing firearm, which could be used for close combat with a short knife stuck into its muzzle. However, the musket could not be loaded or fired while the plug bayonet was in place. The socket bayonet solved this problem and the musket/bayonet combination became the universal infantry weapon from c.1700 to c.1870.
The perfection of the small-bore magazine rifle in the 1890s saw the bayonet lose its tactical importance, a trend that continued in the world wars. Its potential usefulness continued to be recognized from the 1950s, but its blade was often combined with an item with some additional function, most notably a wire-cutter.
Ultimately, for all its fearsome reputation as a visceral, close-quarter fighting weapon, the bayonet's greatest impact was actually as a psychological weapon. Featuring full-colour artwork as well as archive and close-up photographs, this is the absorbing story of the complementary weapon to every soldier’s firearm from the army of Louis XIV to modern-day forces in all global theatres of conflict.
Introduction
Development
Use
Impact
Conclusion
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
Although muskets delivered devastating projectiles at comparatively long ranges, their slow rate of fire left the soldier very vulnerable while reloading, and early muskets were useless for close-quarter fighting.
The development of the flintlock musket produced a much less cumbersome and faster-firing firearm, which could be used for close combat with a short knife stuck into its muzzle. However, the musket could not be loaded or fired while the plug bayonet was in place. The socket bayonet solved this problem and the musket/bayonet combination became the universal infantry weapon from c.1700 to c.1870.
The perfection of the small-bore magazine rifle in the 1890s saw the bayonet lose its tactical importance, a trend that continued in the world wars. Its potential usefulness continued to be recognized from the 1950s, but its blade was often combined with an item with some additional function, most notably a wire-cutter.
Ultimately, for all its fearsome reputation as a visceral, close-quarter fighting weapon, the bayonet's greatest impact was actually as a psychological weapon. Featuring full-colour artwork as well as archive and close-up photographs, this is the absorbing story of the complementary weapon to every soldier’s firearm from the army of Louis XIV to modern-day forces in all global theatres of conflict.
Introduction
Development
Use
Impact
Conclusion
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
Product details
Biographical note
Bill Harriman is Director of Firearms at the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, and appears regularly on British television as part of the team of experts on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow program. A former Territorial Army officer with 18 years’ service, he is also a forensic scientist dealing with cases involving firearms, ammunition and other weapons.
Adam Hook studied graphic design, and began his work as an illustrator in 1983. He specializes in detailed historical reconstructions, and his work features in exhibitions and publications throughout the world.
Alan Gilliland spent 18 years as the graphics editor of the Daily Telegraph, winning 19 awards. He now writes, illustrates and publishes fiction (ravensquill.com), as well as illustrating for a variety of publishers (alangillilandillustration.blogspot.com).