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Arms And The Man
1991 Double Day Canada Limited; First Edition Hardcover
298 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 19, 2026
Very interesting biography of one of the most influential scientists in field of ballistics, and of course developer of ground based artillery systems.
While view of Dr. Bull will differ depending on the political views of the reader (i.e. oh he worked for Saddam he must be baaaaaad) thing is that he was a very talented engineer who dedicated his life to his country defense industry in the first place. When Canada figured out that they cannot financially support domestic defense industry [which caused Bull to get into heated quarrels with Canadian government bodies which complicated his life in the long term], Bull turned to the world greatest weapon developer, USA, and continued further development down south.
It is interesting to follow how Bull slowly dropped and then found his way into grace of powers to be as time went by. Politics (definitely second oldest profession) proved to be a very moody world where image is everything and thus when Bull continued on some plans and political landscape changed all of the sudden, Bull was left to [lets be honest] populist [extremely hypocritical] organizations (in and outside the same governments), and this cost him dearly.
I have to admit that Bull's logical reasoning regarding the political support of various countries shows how utterly unreliable politics is. I especially liked his though train when it comes to popular opinion on Saddam after Iraq Iran war. After being effectively declared pariah when details on South Africa artillery development came up (where Bull and his team provided technological basis, not necessarily all the elements - after all Bull's company was technical consultancy in nature) Bull also found himself called a lot of names - and not just from his motherland that even started to treat him as non-citizen. So when he heard negative talk about Saddam after Iraq Iran war, he logically figured out that this was very similar situation he was in years before. As I said,politics is second (maybe even first) oldest profession in the world, and if you look at today's headlines, media coverage and comments and official political moves have not changed an iota.
Bull was in weapon design business because he was aware that this is the only way to get money and contacts to push for that which interested him the most - using super-guns for delivery of satellites into orbit. He never abandoned this dream and his research culminated with Project Babylon. Problem is that when you have a genius of this level working on various problems, and also having that same person believing that politics is not same as whoring, thus trusting the representatives of security services, things get said that should not have been said - including the discussion on actual aiming mechanisms for the latest super-guns.
Also he was a substantial obstacle for the existing military industrial complex - being enthusiastic, very technical in approach, he was creating very short deadlines but also managed to deliver workable deliverables at the same time. While this was unhealthy for him, it proved that small agile weapon development company can do a lot more than big, slow and very expensive industrial concerns. When one looks at his GC45 gun, its production and role it played from Africa to Asia. This was dangerous and he had to be taken out. I think he would the same even if he had nothing to do with Iraq. It wont be until recent war in Europe proved his view of military industry.
Bull's biography is very interesting and shows how his interests developed, his professional career and forces that influenced and built him (including very hard childhood), how he managed to surround himself with people that loved him and understood him, but also how he managed [unfortunately] to piss off all of the wrong people, that worked very hard to bring Bull down.
Was he a weapon developer? Yes he was. But does that mean he is to be vilified? Definitely not. I mean, unless whole armed industry and everyone working in it is to be treated the same way. Which again is very unfair. It is industry as every other, it is run more by customers than produce itself. It is highly regulated but (and this is big but) is also under constant threat of changes in politics.
I think that Bull's research and development programs were going in direction that forces to be did not like (at the time of writing of the book - and I suspect still - his weapon designs, guns and missiles, were still classified). His work for Iraq was just a motive to kill him. He was just too involved with lots of parties to be trusted that innovations used wont be given to the other side.
And of course we come to the role of Israel in Bull's death. As Bull's son says it is disgraceful that assassination was taken by all of the media and politicians as something understandable and reasonable, and thus Bull was marked as he-deserved-it.
Here it is important to understand that while actions are reasonable and understandable from the Israel national security viewpoint, from international political viewpoint they are anything but (unless notion of assassins going around and killing people left and right is reasonable .... which seems to be view dominant today in the West). It is disgraceful how single country (working for its own interests or as a proxy to bigger powers) can just do whatever it wants knowing that its backers will turn any of its sh*t into gold. And this continues to current times.
Very interesting book, lots of information on arms trade, political labyrinth surrounding it and artillery development done by late Dr. Bull.
Highly recommended.
While view of Dr. Bull will differ depending on the political views of the reader (i.e. oh he worked for Saddam he must be baaaaaad) thing is that he was a very talented engineer who dedicated his life to his country defense industry in the first place. When Canada figured out that they cannot financially support domestic defense industry [which caused Bull to get into heated quarrels with Canadian government bodies which complicated his life in the long term], Bull turned to the world greatest weapon developer, USA, and continued further development down south.
It is interesting to follow how Bull slowly dropped and then found his way into grace of powers to be as time went by. Politics (definitely second oldest profession) proved to be a very moody world where image is everything and thus when Bull continued on some plans and political landscape changed all of the sudden, Bull was left to [lets be honest] populist [extremely hypocritical] organizations (in and outside the same governments), and this cost him dearly.
I have to admit that Bull's logical reasoning regarding the political support of various countries shows how utterly unreliable politics is. I especially liked his though train when it comes to popular opinion on Saddam after Iraq Iran war. After being effectively declared pariah when details on South Africa artillery development came up (where Bull and his team provided technological basis, not necessarily all the elements - after all Bull's company was technical consultancy in nature) Bull also found himself called a lot of names - and not just from his motherland that even started to treat him as non-citizen. So when he heard negative talk about Saddam after Iraq Iran war, he logically figured out that this was very similar situation he was in years before. As I said,politics is second (maybe even first) oldest profession in the world, and if you look at today's headlines, media coverage and comments and official political moves have not changed an iota.
Bull was in weapon design business because he was aware that this is the only way to get money and contacts to push for that which interested him the most - using super-guns for delivery of satellites into orbit. He never abandoned this dream and his research culminated with Project Babylon. Problem is that when you have a genius of this level working on various problems, and also having that same person believing that politics is not same as whoring, thus trusting the representatives of security services, things get said that should not have been said - including the discussion on actual aiming mechanisms for the latest super-guns.
Also he was a substantial obstacle for the existing military industrial complex - being enthusiastic, very technical in approach, he was creating very short deadlines but also managed to deliver workable deliverables at the same time. While this was unhealthy for him, it proved that small agile weapon development company can do a lot more than big, slow and very expensive industrial concerns. When one looks at his GC45 gun, its production and role it played from Africa to Asia. This was dangerous and he had to be taken out. I think he would the same even if he had nothing to do with Iraq. It wont be until recent war in Europe proved his view of military industry.
Bull's biography is very interesting and shows how his interests developed, his professional career and forces that influenced and built him (including very hard childhood), how he managed to surround himself with people that loved him and understood him, but also how he managed [unfortunately] to piss off all of the wrong people, that worked very hard to bring Bull down.
Was he a weapon developer? Yes he was. But does that mean he is to be vilified? Definitely not. I mean, unless whole armed industry and everyone working in it is to be treated the same way. Which again is very unfair. It is industry as every other, it is run more by customers than produce itself. It is highly regulated but (and this is big but) is also under constant threat of changes in politics.
I think that Bull's research and development programs were going in direction that forces to be did not like (at the time of writing of the book - and I suspect still - his weapon designs, guns and missiles, were still classified). His work for Iraq was just a motive to kill him. He was just too involved with lots of parties to be trusted that innovations used wont be given to the other side.
And of course we come to the role of Israel in Bull's death. As Bull's son says it is disgraceful that assassination was taken by all of the media and politicians as something understandable and reasonable, and thus Bull was marked as he-deserved-it.
Here it is important to understand that while actions are reasonable and understandable from the Israel national security viewpoint, from international political viewpoint they are anything but (unless notion of assassins going around and killing people left and right is reasonable .... which seems to be view dominant today in the West). It is disgraceful how single country (working for its own interests or as a proxy to bigger powers) can just do whatever it wants knowing that its backers will turn any of its sh*t into gold. And this continues to current times.
Very interesting book, lots of information on arms trade, political labyrinth surrounding it and artillery development done by late Dr. Bull.
Highly recommended.
August 14, 2017
An interesting layout of the life and times of Dr. Gerald Bull. He was one Canada's brightest scientists and he was extremely influential in solving tough technical challenges of the 20th Century in these realms: 1. an inverted wind tunnel 2. Base bleed ammunition for artillery 3. High Altitude Research Program (HARP)--weather data, et al. Unfortunately, he is known for his efforts to help and design an Iraqi Super Gun. Dr. Bull and his team solved all of the technical challenges to gun launch satellites into earth orbit
February 19, 2012
This account of Gerry Bull and his obsessive involvement in the arms trade would be news to most readers and to most Canadians. Bull, an obviously brilliant man with tremendous energy, is a dark figure with many successes but with a self-destructive bend of arrogance, adultery and shadow ethics. In many ways, he epitomizes what many people fear drives the machinery of war and defence throughout the world.
September 22, 2008
Bull was one of the few people who really matches the mad scientist stereotype. Brilliant, driven, and without scruples as to employers. He ran a large international arms corporation, and was willing to sell his skills to anybody -- including Saddam Hussein.
This is an account of his life and his assassination. It's worth reading.
This is an account of his life and his assassination. It's worth reading.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews