Publisher's abstract: Why were the gentle Chinese empresses afraid of “fire rats”, but the “powder monkeys” were not afraid of anything at all? Why did you need the urine of a drunkard, or best of all, a drinking bishop, to make saltpeter? Why was there no “aim” command in the English army, and why did the word “firecracker” cause rude laughter among Shakespeare’s contemporaries? Jack Kelly, an American writer, historian and journalist, author of the book “Gunpowder,” knows the answers to these questions. Gunpowder is one of those great inventions that dramatically changed the course of history. Gunpowder is not just about war. Like the wheel and the compass, it helped man reach the very edge of the world. Like the printing press, it helped give birth to modern science and paved the way for the Industrial Revolution. Thanks to gunpowder, entire nations were enslaved - and with its help they regained freedom. Gunpowder claimed millions of lives, but its very first work was not a shot, but a fireworks display: before filling the world with horror and death, gunpowder delighted, entertained and delighted people.