Heavyweights: The Military Use of Massive Weapons

by Leo Marriott, Jonathan Forty

Delivering the heaviest possible ammunition onto the enemy and his strong points serves a number of military functions.  It destroys protective positions and is ideal for siege or trench warfare.  It maintains distance from the opposition without endangering one's own troops.  Also significant, heavy artillery saps the enemy's morale when they see them rolling out on the front lines.  Most importantly, the heavyweights shared in these pages were game changers.  Before the end of the 14th century, strong city walls and castle ramparts were almost impregnable but as technology progressed and the weapons got bigger, the way of battle changed.  As defense on the battlefield adapted, innovation spurred more destructive and damage dealing weapons.  Before long, every army had its artillery train, and a significant point of pride was the largest and most potent of the weapons.  Weather it was against giant warships or castle walls, heavyweights got the job done.

Covering military history chronologically, each period has a number of case studies.  From the stone-shot Turkish supercannon to the atomic artillery of the 1950s.  Whether it was by land or sea, the biggest, baddest, heavy artillery are paid homage within these pages.  As the guns and munitions grew, so did the massive shells, ammunition carriers, and reloaders.  The largest weapons are itemized and their uses in wartime are documented.  Additionally, there are appendices that identify the largest of other guns, hand held or personal weapons, and aircraft.  

This book asks the question, "Is bigger always better?"  In these cases, the answer is yes. 

192 pages, Hardcover

Published September 3, 2017

Reviews

[Henry Davis IV · Rating 4 out of 5]

It would be easy to "write" this work off as just another coffee table book, but it is actually a very well done overview of Artillery through the ages. It is detailed, but as one can see from the bibliography, it draws from many well-known contemporary source like books by Ian Hogg, selections from the Osprey Military History publishing house, and others. Of course, the pictures are fantastic throughout this book so it would be an asset to any coffee table it might be laid upon. Still, though, this book is worthy of study even if it would not rate as a primary source itself. As one travels through the history of Artillery from its earliest Bombards in the 15th Century through modern cannon artillery, a couple of things become clear. First, the age of gunpowder based artillery reached its zenith during World War II and has been on a decline ever since with airpower and rockets / missiles filling roles it once dominated. Second, although work is still on-going by the United States and other major military powers around the world, whomever is able to field either an operational "rail gun" firing an electrically propelled projectile at hypersonic speeds or a practical laser weapon first will usher in a renaissance for cannon artillery (not to mention making many opponent's cannon and missile systems obsolete overnight). Although it is always tricky predicting the future, based on trends over the last six centuries of artillery development it is clear either of these two innovations have the potential to retake roles historically filled by gunpowder artillery not to mention add a few new roles (like missile interception) that were merely science fiction before the 20th Century. I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in artillery, military technology, or military history.