A while back, I stumbled across a collection of stories from the pre-dynamite days. Anybody who handled nitroglycerin took his life in his hands.

I've thought sometimes that if today's suicide bombers used nitro, they would probably do more damage by accident than they've ever managed to do on purpose.

Story #8 contains a comparison of various explosives. Everybody should look at this just to see how incredibly touchy nitroglycerin is. It's way worse than black powder, which commands respect in its own right.