Table of Contents

Introduction
Edison at War
Gassing the Senator
Mitchell's War in Three Dimensions
The Bombsight
Precision Bombing Tested
Napalm
The Switch
The Atomic Bomb
The Weapon Not Used
The Hydrogen Bomb
Missiles
Destructive Strategies
Vietnam-the Limits of Analytical Thinking
Star Wars
Smart Bombs and Drones
Epilogue

About the Author

Patrick Coffey is a Visiting Scholar in the Office for History of Science and Technology at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of Cathedrals of Science.

Reviews

"Patrick Coffey s American Arsenal: A Century of Waging War offers a brisk account of the development of key weapons and technologies, from poison gas to drones, in that arsenal. Many of his stories are fascinating, gruesome, even lurid, and some are largely unknown."--Los Angeles Review of Books
"Coffey delivers an interesting book that introduces the general reader to a little-known perspective on military history."--Publisher's Weekly