In The Social History of the Machine Gun, John Ellis shows the awesome impact that machine guns have had on civilisation and society. The creators and initial users, of the machine gun believed that their creation would end all wars, since it instituted a form of mutually assured destruction. They also believed it would bring about a certain amount of order to society, since unruly people would be put under control by elites that had exclusionary access to machine guns. But this reality did not materialise. Greater weapons were ultimately made, and these also failed to end war, just as they came up short in bringing about social control.