"
What changed was not firearms, but culture."
Very true, which comment reminds me of...
"Alas, Brave New Babylon" new fiction by Matt Brackenhttp://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3058882/posts
Well done! Continuing study is a great thing.
To add a trivial point, contemporary iron casting in our western countries is a very high speed and complicated technology compared to methods and equipment of the past. If much interrupted, it wouldn't recover for a very long time. I had a look at it while learning older casting methods. [For the young folks. I probably won't be around long enough for any personal gain from that or other custom work.]
Howdy, Squantos! Hope you got some of this rain down there.