The United States first used Paveway, the original so-called smart bomb, in combat in 1968. In 1972, launched from an American jet and guided by sophisticated lasers, the precision missile destroyed a bridge in North Vietnam that American forces had previously been unable to hit. The strike was a marquee moment in military history, and in this illuminating and thoughtful book, Stern, a journalist, tells the story of the bomb and its effect on warfare. He discusses the prompts and experiments