The development of the pistol helped bring the age of the armored knight to an end, provided the elite with a status symbol of dangerous glamour, and inspired both artisans and industrialists to reach new heights of invention.

Pistols follows the evolution of personal sidearms in Europe, the United States, and Asia from medieval-era "hand cannons" with their clunky ignition systems, to the revolutionary Colt revolvers of the 19th century, to the modern semiautomatic weapons of today.

Full of fascinating insights and details, this work shows how pistols brought about the decline of knights in armor, and ultimately replaced the sword on the battlefield. The book also explores the pistol's astonishing "democratization" as it moved from being a luxury item of the nobility, to standard issue for soldiers, to a mass-produced commodity and source of intensive corporate competition. Along the way, readers meet the many colorful characters (often eccentric geniuses) who devoted themselves to pistol development.