Guns, Gunpowder and Saltpetre. A short history

Notes:

Provides a history of the development of gunpowder production and its technology from early times, and the use in this of its major component, saltpetre. International in scope, especially regarding the supply of saltpetre in Britain, but with discussion of gunpowder and saltpetre manufacture in Britain. Very little about the Faversham industry. Chapters include: 'China and the discovery of gunpowder ...'; 'Medieval gunpowder technology in Europe'; 'Saltpetre refining'; 'European saltpetre trade with the Far East'; 'Gunpowder and the end of alchemy'; 'Gunpowder, saltpetre and the Industrial Revolution'; 'Spanish colonial gunpowder and saltpetre'; 'British saltpetre supply before and after the Napoleonic Wars'; 'Tarapaca and the Chilean nitrate industry'; 'Rifles, rifled cannons and the strength of powders'; 'British gunpowder manufacture, 1830-1880'; 'Blasting and mining - black powders'