Sean McLachlan

In the early 14th century, a new weapon entered the arsenals of European armies. This first generation of black powder weapons put fear into the heart of the enemy and in 1453 Ottoman cannon succeeded in pummelling the once-impregnable walls of Constantinople. But cannons, which are both slow and cumbersome, were difficult to use and often proved inaccurate. The first handgonnes were the answer. Easily dismissed by later historians as nothing more than crude tubes that shot wildly inaccurate lead balls, more recent research has revealed the true accuracy of the medieval handgonne together with its penetrative power. This volume, complete with detailed illustrations and colour photographs of reconstructed handgonnes, reveals the true history of what could easily have been the most revolutionary weapon in history. This book will be a must for medieval enthusiasts and re-enactors.

While the giant armies of the Union and the Confederacy were fighting over cities and strategic strongholds, a large number of warriors from both sides were fighting, smaller, more personal battles. Beginning with the violent struggle known as Bleeding Kansas armed bands of irregular fighters began to wage war in every corner of the United States. Many of the names of their commanders have become legendary: William Quantrill, Bloody Bill Anderson, and John S Mosby - The Grey Ghost. To their own people they were heroes; to others they were the first of a new generation of wild-west outlaw. Their tactics included robbing banks, kidnapping soldiers & civilians, rustling cattle, and cutting telegraph lines. In fact, it is during the violence of the war that many of America's future outlaw legends would be born, most notably Cole Younger and Frank and Jesse James.