200,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿 

Black Friday Sale on Now! Save up to 25% off Books, Toys, Board Games, & Puzzles! ✨

The Firearm Revolution

From Renaissance Italy to the European Empires
By Catherine Fletcher
0.0 (0 reviews)
Brief Description
A groundbreaking account of how firearms changed Europe and the world. In Renaissance Italy, the gun was not only a tool of war but also a desirable object, a luxury item carried at court. Guns were in use on the battlefield by 1440; later in that... Read More
Format: Hardback
$6999

International Supplier

This title is in-stock with overseas suppliers. While it is not available locally, we fly books in weekly from the US and UK to our Auckland warehouse for immediate dispatch.

AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

A groundbreaking account of how firearms changed Europe and the world.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

A groundbreaking account of how firearms changed Europe and the world.

In Renaissance Italy, the gun was not only a tool of war but also a desirable object, a luxury item carried at court. Guns were in use on the battlefield by 1440; later in that century Leonardo da Vinci sketched a design for a faster-firing, more portable handgun that could be hidden beneath a cloak. As the gun proliferated in society, it became both a means of self-defence and a threat to civic order. In The Firearm Revolution, historian Catherine Fletcher explores the emergence of firearms in Renaissance Italy and beyond, describing the social transformations that accompanied the evolution of the handgun from innovative military technology to widely used personal accessory.

Fletcher shows that as guns became smaller and the new wheellock mechanism made concealed carry possible, Italian states increasingly tried to control their use – even as they viewed firearms as necessary for their militias. In the end, Fletcher reports, the importance of civic defence trumped the concern for social order. As guns became ever more acceptable, stories of how firearms aided Europeans’ overseas conquests created a new and more positive image for a weapon once considered the devil’s work. Debates over the regulation of firearms five centuries ago – which included arguments over the restriction of gun ownership, the use of guns for self-defence and the regulation of an armed militia – in many ways anticipate discussions about gun control today. Fletcher’s groundbreaking account sheds new light on how governments weighed the competing priorities of defence and social order as they set out to build empires.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780691272672

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 14 April 2026

Country: United States

Imprint: Princeton University Press

Illustration: 32 color + 26 b/w illus. 1 map.

Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Width: 156.0mm

Height: 235.0mm

Weight: 726g

Pages: 352

Collections

Catherine Fletcher Education & Reference Engineering, Technology & Agriculture Fishing & Hunting Global History History & Archaeology History & Military Non-Fiction Science & Nature Sports

About the Author

Catherine Fletcher is professor of history at Manchester Metropolitan University. She is the author of several books on early modern Italy, including The Roads to Rome, The Beauty and the Terror: An Alternative History of the Italian Renaissance and The Black Prince of Florence: The Life of Alessandro de’ Medici.

Also by Catherine Fletcher

View all
  • The Roads To Rome
    Brimming with life and drama, this is the first book to explore two thousand years of European history through one of the most important imperial networks ever built. All roads lead to Rome. It's a medieval proverb, but it's also true—today's European roads still follow the networks of the ancient empire, as Rome's extraordinary legacy continues to grip our imaginations....
    By Catherine Fletcher
    Paperback
    $3600
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Roads To Rome
    Brimming with life and drama, this is a magnificent journey into two thousand years of history, from the acclaimed and beloved historian of Europe. All roads lead to Rome. It's a medieval proverb, but it's also true—today's European roads still follow the networks of the ancient empire, stitching together our histories and continuing to inspire our imaginations. Over the two...
    By Catherine Fletcher
    Paperback
    $3000
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Beauty and the Terror
    An imaginative and revelatory new history of the Italian Renaissance that challenges our preconceptions of the era. A THE TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020 Brilliant and gripping, here is the full true Renaissance in a history of compelling originality and freshness - Simon Sebag Montefiore The Italian Renaissance shaped Western culture - but it was far stranger and darker...
    By Catherine Fletcher
    Paperback
    Sold Out

Browse lists from our team

The Latest at Book Hero

View all

More from History & Military

View all
  • Behind Enemy Lines
    New Release
    Behind Enemy Lines
    Archie Gibson's initiation into desert warfare almost proved to be his last. Barrelling through the sand dunes at the wheel of his truck, Gibson spied a searing flash of light up ahead, the signature of a feared German 88mm gun firing ... right at him. He leapt from his speeding vehicle just before it was torn apart and turned into...
    By Damien Lewis
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    The Cauldron
    How did an elderly cleric overthrow the Shah of Iran and change the world?Why did Bin Laden attack the USA - and why did the USA destroy Saddam?How did Britain and France carve up the Middle East - and why did the Kurds never get their own state? THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE MAKING OF TODAY'S MIDDLE EAST: A SPELLBINDING...
    By Simon Sebag Montefiore
    Hardback
    $4999
    Elsewhere:
    $6000
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • On Sale
    18% off
    Saving Elli
    One child. Two years in hiding. Three lives in mortal danger. In Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, near Anne Frank's house, another Jewish girl is hidden. Her name is Elli. Her father has been executed at Mauthausen concentration camp. Her mother is fleeing for her life. Elli is next. To save her, resistance couple Frits and Jo Hakkens must risk everything, concealing her...
    By Doug Gold
    Paperback
    $2700
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • On Sale
    19% off
    Dylan's Pick Dylan's Pick
    Suicidal Empathy
    The bestselling author of The Parasitic Mind shows why empathy in politics leads to civilizational collapse. What happens when a society elevates victimhood to a virtue and decides that punishment is cruel? You get the disease Dr. Gad Saad calls suicidal empathy. And the West may be terminally infected. In his new book, Suicidal Empathy, Saad unleashes a blistering critique...
    By Gad Saad
    Paperback
    $2500
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    The Race to the Top of the World
    The epic true story of George Mallory and Edmund Hillary and the quest to be the first to conquer Everest. A captivating story of adventure, daring, despair and triumph from Australia's favourite storyteller. Last century, two men, thirty years apart, set out to become the first to conquer the highest point in the world. Their names are synonymous with adventure...
    By Peter FitzSimons
    Hardback
    $4699
    Elsewhere:
    $6000
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Man's Search For Meaning
    Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl is a profound, thought-provoking memoir and psychological exploration that delves into the harrowing experiences of life in Nazi concentration camps, intertwined with the author’s groundbreaking theories on existential psychology. The book is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, offering a beacon of hope and a roadmap for finding purpose...
    By Viktor E Frankl
    Paperback
    $1800
    Elsewhere:
    $2100
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • On Sale
    17% off
    The Wager
    THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER LONGLISTED FOR THE 2023 BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 'The beauty of The Wager unfurls like a great sail... one of the finest nonfiction books I've ever read' Guardian 'The greatest sea story ever told' Spectator 'I cannot think of anyone who would not love this book... It is an extraordinary true story, beautifully...
    By David Grann
    Paperback
    $2000
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Signed
    On Sale
    16% off
    Lizzy's Pick Lizzy's Pick
    The Chief and the Empire
    The Chief and the Empire uncovers the extraordinary true tale of Te Tai Tokerau rangatira Te Pahi - the first influential Māori leader to cross the Tasman - whose curiosity about the Pākehā world forged alliances, saved lives, and ultimately cost him his own. On a visit to Sydney in 1805, Te Pahi was feted as a celebrity, building close...
    By Eugene Bingham
    Paperback
    $2700
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    Redwood
    From the multi-million-selling historian, the remarkable, unknown Cold War story of how one spy saved the world from nuclear war. The year is 1981. Tehran is in violent turmoil in the wake of the Iranian Revolution. The Soviets are planning to overthrow the Ayatollah's fledgling Islamist regime. If they do so, one response from America — unknown to the public...
    By Ben Macintyre
    Paperback
    $3399
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • On Sale
    30% off
    Discipline
    Silence is complicity, but how do we confront the cost of speaking up? Sydney, May 2021. Ashraf is an academic whose career and personal life are in freefall. Hannah is a young journalist struggling to honour the voices of her community. When a Year 12 Al-Bayinnah College student is arrested for protesting a university's ties to an Israeli weapons manufacturer,...
    By Randa Abdel-Fattah
    Paperback
    $2800
    Usually:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • On Sale
    23% off
    The Golden Menhir
    Assurancetourix is entering the legendary Gallic bards' competition to win the golden menhir. But with the Romans keeping a close watch, Asterix and Obelix must protect him at all costs. Their mission? Keep him safe-no matter what... even if it means risking their own ears! First released as a book-disc in 1967, this adventure soon became a rare treasure, long...
    By René Goscinny
    Hardback
    $2300
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Castles
    New Release
    Castles
    From the bestselling author of The Templars and Powers and Thrones, Dan Jones returns with Castles: a gripping history of the world told through over three thousand years of iconic strongholds. Castles have been built to defend humanity for millennia – from the walls of Troy and the desert bastion of Krak des Chevaliers in Syria, to Windsor Castle and...
    By Dan Jones
    Paperback
    $3399
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 200,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.