High‐speed photographs have been obtained of the fracture of glass produced by the detonation of a high explosive charge. Using photoelastic methods, the shock waves set up in the glass can also be photographed. In addition to providing a high intensity loading method, the explosive also serves as a convenient time base for determination of the rates of propagation of shock waves and cracking.The results presented in this paper extend those obtained by other investigators who used low energy impacts to produce fracture.