Superguns 1854-1991: Extreme artillery from the Paris Gun and the V-3 to Iraq's Project Babylon

by Steven J. Zaloga, Jim Laurier (Illustrator)

Overview

Over the last 150 years, gun designers have sought to transform warfare with artillery of superlative range and power, from William Armstrong's 19th-century “monster guns” to the latest research into hypersonic electro-magnetic railguns.


Taking a case study approach, Superguns explains the technology and role of the finest monster weapons of each era. It looks at the 1918 “Wilhelm Gun,” designed to shell Paris from behind the German trenches; the World War II “V-3” gun built to bombard London across the Channel; the Cold War atomic cannons of the US and Soviet Union; and the story of Dr Gerald Bull's HARP program and the Iraqi “Supergun” he designed for Saddam Hussein. Illustrated throughout, this is an authoritative history of the greatest and most ambitious artillery pieces of all time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472826091
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	12/27/2018
Series:	New Vanguard , #265
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	48
File size:	17 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Steven J. Zaloga received his BA in History from Union College and his MA from Columbia University. He has worked as an analyst in the aerospace industry for over three decades, covering missile systems and the international arms trade, and has served with the Institute for Defense Analyses, a federal think tank. He is the author of numerous books on military technology and military history, with an accent on the US Army in World War II as well as Russia and the former Soviet Union. He lives in Maryland, USA.
Steven J. Zaloga received his BA in History from Union College and his MA from Columbia University. He has worked as an analyst in the aerospace industry for three decades, covering missile systems and the international arms trade, and has served with the Institute for Defense Analyses, a federal think tank. He is the author of numerous books on military technology and history, including NVG 294 Allied Tanks in Normandy 1944 and NVG 283 American Guided Missiles of World War II. He currently lives in Maryland, USA.
Jim Laurier is a native of New England and lives in New Hampshire. He attended Paier School of Art in Hamden, Connecticut, from 1974–78, and since graduating with Honours, he has been working professionally in the field of Fine Art and Illustration. He has been commissioned to paint for the US Air Force and has aviation paintings on permanent display at the Pentagon.

Table of Contents

Introduction /The 19th Century: William Armstrong's 'Monster Guns' /World War I: The Paris Gun /World War II German Superguns: Dora and the V-3 /Cold War Superguns: US Atomic Cannon and Soviet Oka and Kondensator /Gerard Bull's Superguns: HARP and Project Babylon /Current Developments /Bibliography /Index

Editorial Reviews

Recommended for the gunners and those amongst us interested in artillery.” —AMPS

From the Publisher