Maartje Abbenhuis is Professor in Modern History in the School of Humanities at Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland. She is the author of several critically acclaimed books and co-author of Global War, Global Catastrophe, which won the 2022 Tomlinson Prize.

'This is a fascinating story of transgression and technology. Recounting the social processes through which weapons shift from the mundane to the taboo, Abbenhuis offers a comprehensive history of the dum-dum bullet. This is a sophisticated cultural analysis of a simple and mundane socio-technical system. With so little academic attention paid to the evolution of ammunition, it is a reminder to scholars that what is overlooked often has a rich and world-changing story. Heartily recommended.' Matthew Ford, author of Weapon of Choice

• Acknowledgements; 1. The dum-dum bullet in history; 2. Angels of death: the violence of Minié bullets in the 1850s and 1860s; 3. A question of life itself: exploding projectiles and the St Petersburg Declaration of 1868; 4. Unseen death: 'Man-stopping' bullets and everyday violence before 1890; 5. Bullets that do not kill: Explaining the dum-dum 'hysteria' of the 1890s; 6. For every atrocity, a dum-dum, 1900–1950; Epilogue: the dum-dum bullet's enduring fascination; Bibliography; Index.

Maartje Abbenhuis is Professor in Modern History in the School of Humanities at Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland. She is the author of several critically acclaimed books and co-author of Global War, Global Catastrophe, which won the 2022 Tomlinson Prize.

'This is a fascinating story of transgression and technology. Recounting the social processes through which weapons shift from the mundane to the taboo, Abbenhuis offers a comprehensive history of the dum-dum bullet. This is a sophisticated cultural analysis of a simple and mundane socio-technical system. With so little academic attention paid to the evolution of ammunition, it is a reminder to scholars that what is overlooked often has a rich and world-changing story. Heartily recommended.' Matthew Ford, author of Weapon of Choice

• Acknowledgements; 1. The dum-dum bullet in history; 2. Angels of death: the violence of Minié bullets in the 1850s and 1860s; 3. A question of life itself: exploding projectiles and the St Petersburg Declaration of 1868; 4. Unseen death: 'Man-stopping' bullets and everyday violence before 1890; 5. Bullets that do not kill: Explaining the dum-dum 'hysteria' of the 1890s; 6. For every atrocity, a dum-dum, 1900–1950; Epilogue: the dum-dum bullet's enduring fascination; Bibliography; Index.