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Weapons and Warfare in Renaissance Europe: Gunpowder, Technology, and Tactics. By Bert S. Hall. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-8018-5531-4. Maps. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Pp. x, 300. $29.95.
Bert Hall seeks to provide a new perspective on the Military Revolution by looking back to the very inception of gunpowder weapons. Hall's concern is the diffusion and development of firearms up through the sixteenth century; he thus ends at the point where most studies of the Military Revolution begin. Although this book is based almost entirely on secondary sources, Hall's approach provides insight into aspects of Renaissance military affairs which have not been fully appreciated until now. Although he recognizes that there were important changes in warfare during the Renaissance, Hall is at pains to emphasize the continuity of military practice rather than the breaks in it. Thus, he sees arquebuses as having fulfilled the same role as crossbows: they were used in sieges...