Weapons & Warfare - Hardcover

Meltzer, Milton

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060248750 ISBN 13: 9780060248758

Publisher: HarperColl, 1996

Synopsis

Thousands and thousands of years ago, Stone Age humans learned to make the first simple weapons -- wooden clubs, spears, bows and arrows, and slings -- to hunt for food. Today, we have bombs that could easily wipe the entire Stone Age population with one blow. Award-winning author Milton Meltzer takes readers on a highly selective journey through the evolution of weapons and warfare. In brief, accessible sketches, Meltzer traces the ingenious development of arms from hunting tools to tactical instruments for strategic offence and defense. The provocative, human-interest history will intrigue readers interested in -- or concerned about -- humanity's ongoing drive toward new methods of making weapons and war.

About this title

About the Authors

Milton Meltzer, a Christopher Award and Jane Addams Children's Book Award winner, is the author of over eighty books in the fields of history, biography, and social reform. His most recent books are The Amazing Potato, a 1993 ALA Notable Children's Book, Gold and Hold Your Horses!. He lives in New York City.

Winner of the 2001 Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal

Sergio Martinez was born and lives in Mexico City. He illustrated Weapons & Warfare by Milton Meltzer. His paintings have been exhibited in galleries around the world.

Reviews

Grade 6 Up. A concise, tautly written, introductory survey of an ever-popular subject. In straightforward, seemingly effortless prose, Meltzer presents readers with essential facts and figures. The chronological approach is flexible enough to include mini-essays on topics such as "Do Women War?," "The Human Cost," and "The Profits of Death-Dealing." The author concludes with the statement, "We have become so used to this miserable state of affairs that many of us do not see how stupid, how irrational, how blind has been the mass behavior of humanity. How long will we continue to go along with such mad folly?" If the book can be faulted at all, it is for the sketchbooklike, black-and-white pencil drawings; they are well done, but lack the kind of detail that middle schoolers like to see. Therefore, this overview should be used in conjection with books like the Diagram Group's Weapons (St. Martin's Pr., 1991).?David A. Lindsey, Lakewood High and Middle School Libraries, WA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Meltzer (Hold Your Horses!, 1995, etc.) presents a sobering overview of the tools and techniques of battle, from prehistoric times to the present, in an intelligent, direct, and necessarily brief style: The subject is so immense that he doesn't spend too much time on any particular topic. The evidence is appropriately depressing: As far back as 10,000 b.c., people have been fighting each other. Diligent reportage on the technological development of weaponry is skillfully accompanied by Martinez's consummate charcoal illustrations that depict these weapons, famous battles, and warriors throughout history. The bloody trail that stretches from wooden clubs to thermonuclear bombs is full of horrors. The reasons for the origins of war are basic enough to grasp: Primitive man fought over lack of food or the possession of a mate. As the reasons for armed combat became more sophisticated, so did the weapons. Meltzer's discussion is more than just a rehashing, and readers will enjoy the intriguing connections the author makes, e.g., between modern ballistic missiles and ancient slingshots and stones. His recitation of statistics regarding current handgun sales within the US and his subsequent appeal to the basic humanity of young readers are the book's best lessons of all. (bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 8-12) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Gr. 5^-9. In his easy, casual voice, Meltzer combines a quick sweep through human history with details of how technology has helped people fight each other and defend themselves. The order is chronological--from wooden clubs and spears to the cannon and the thermonuclear bomb--but the material is subdivided into 59 short, readable chapters. There are lots of illustrations, and many readers will browse in the areas that interest them, whether it's the history of the Spanish Armada or the development of the machine gun. Of course, the subject is intensely dramatic--the action, the leaders, the inventors, the casualties, the sheer numbers--but the author of Ain't Gonna Study War No More (1985) is careful not to glorify combat or killing. One contemporary chapter is about the horrifying statistics on gun violence, and profits, in the U.S. today. Meltzer concludes with a heartfelt plea for peace. He includes a bibliography of books about the history of warfare but not much direct source material for the interesting quotes. Hazel Rochman

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperColl
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0060248750
• ISBN 13: 9780060248758
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Martinez Sergio
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 85