ABSTRACT
When viewed in terms of the technical development of projectile weapons, there is a clear logical line of progression that begins with the muscle-propelled stone or spear and ends with the rocket-delivered nuclear warhead. The bomber and the ballistic missile are thus only an extension of artillery, to which cities have for some 500 years been subjected. Such a technical continuum, however, conceals a distinctly new strategic role of cities, and a new set of reactions to that newly imposed role-introduced by the possibility of their attack from the air.
