Customer Reviews

American Rifle: A Biography

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

With American Rifle: A Biography Mr. Rose has written a detailed, engaging, concise history of not only the rifle in America but also of the United States of America.

To understand the history of the United States of America one gains many insights by reading American Rifle. To quote General Pershing from the book, "You must not forget that the rifle is distinctively an American weapon." This is bolstered by none other then John Adams who first used the word "rifle" in a 1775 letter to his beloved Abigail stating that he had recently heard of a "particular kind of musket, called a rifle...". The book more then explains why these statements are true.

The book starts with the early German immigrant Jager makers, who settled mainly in Pennsylvania creating the first Kentucky rifles; the uniquely American weapon which changed history. (You have to read the book for the theories as to why those rifles became known as Kentucky rifles.)

With thorough research and a clean, linear, easy to follow writing style the author takes us from those early days of flintlocks at Bunker Hill and the other key American Revolution battle sites onto the fields of fire of today in Iraq where the M4 (little brother of the M-16) gets the job done as we wait to see what the next major innovation in rifles will bring.

Most of the major men, firearm makers and weapons which were pivotal in the history of the rifle are covered. Myths are dispelled and interesting nuggets of fact are dispersed throughout the volume to reward the reader.

The book appeals not only to those interested in weapons and their history but readers of military history or anyone wanting to know more about the history of the USA in general. It also clearly shows the history of the industrial revolution and how gun production often also drove the other goods which became mass produced.

There have been many volumes written on the development of rifles and other firearms. Mr. Rose has earned his position by writing as interesting and as readable a book which has ever been penned on the subject. The book is more then worth reading.

American Rifle: A Biography also understands the philosophy behind the inscription which a Yale class had inscribed onto a Sharps rifle which they presented to a local infantry captain before the Civil War:

"Ultima Ratio Liberarum" - "the final argument in liberty".

This is not the first book to examine Americans and their relationship with guns but the well known scandal souroundingArming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture means that a new book was needed. This book is not about all of the gun culture in the U.S or the second amendment, that can be found elsewhere, this is about the American rifle, a weapon that many readers will be surprised to learn is unqiuely American.

It begins with the revolutionary period and Germans in Pennsylvania creating the first Kentucky Rifle. then we are taken through to the Civil War, Gerneral Pershing, the American Marine Corp, the decision to replace the Springfield M1903 with the M1 Garand (and M1 Carbine), the first semi-automatic rifle to be generally issues to U.S infantry units. It follows the M1 through the Second World War, Korean war and into Vietnam. It was replaced, starting in 1964, with the M16, which is still in use today as the M4 carbine.

This is a brilliant book that is much more than a book about guns, it is the biography of a nation and the arsenal of democracy, the rifles, that protect it. It is about the military and civilian attachment to the rifle. It is about culture and war. Perhaps it is a testament to America and her heritage that one can tell the story of the nation in such a unique way, and this book and its author are certainly the ones to do it. A wonderful read.

Seth J. Frantzman

With American Rifle: A Biography Mr. Rose has written a detailed, engaging, concise history of not only the rifle in America but also of the United States of America.

To understand the history of the United States of America one gains many insights by reading American Rifle. To quote General Pershing from the book, "You must not forget that the rifle is distinctively an American weapon." This is bolstered by none other then John Adams who first used the word "rifle" in a 1775 letter to his beloved Abigail stating that he had recently heard of a "particular kind of musket, called a rifle...". The book more then explains why these statements are true.

The book starts with the early German immigrant Jager makers, who settled mainly in Pennsylvania creating the first Kentucky rifles; the uniquely American weapon which changed history. (You have to read the book for the theories as to why those rifles became known as Kentucky rifles.)

With thorough research and a clean, linear, easy to follow writing style the author takes us from those early days of flintlocks at Bunker Hill and the other key American Revolution battle sites onto the fields of fire of today in Iraq where the M4 (little brother of the M-16) gets the job done as we wait to see what the next major innovation in rifles will bring.

Most of the major men, firearm makers and weapons which were pivotal in the history of the rifle are covered. Myths are dispelled and interesting nuggets of fact are dispersed throughout the volume to reward the reader.

The book appeals not only to those interested in weapons and their history but readers of military history or anyone wanting to know more about the history of the USA in general. It also clearly shows the history of the industrial revolution and how gun production often also drove the other goods which became mass produced.

There have been many volumes written on the development of rifles and other firearms. Mr. Rose has earned his position by writing as interesting and as readable a book which has ever been penned on the subject. The book is more then worth reading.

American Rifle: A Biography also understands the philosophy behind the inscription which a Yale class had inscribed onto a Sharps rifle which they presented to a local infantry captain before the Civil War:

"Ultima Ratio Liberarum" - "the final argument in liberty".

American Rifle: A Biography
I started shooting in 1934 and was active for many years with reloading and amateur gunsmithing, I was also deeply involved with the procurement of the M14 rifle and all the problems involved. This is the best book on the subject, comparable only to Julian Hatcher's Rifle in America which has long been unavailable. Phil Sharpe's is more like a catalog. It doesn't take a shooting fan to appreciate this very readable history of Americana.

This is a terrific work, well researched and engaging. One of the best parts of this format is that the references are hotlinked within the text. In other words, when a passage in the book refers to a research work the author used, the superscript is a hotlink to the references section, where the reader may get more information on the passage. There is a handy link in the references page which then returns the reader to the passage. Very nice, especially in a work like this.

As for the book itself, it did suffer from some formatting issues, mainly hyphenated words which, in the original, were obviously at the end of a line. However, this only distracted me a little. The content is informative and engaging, the conclusions drawn are apt, and the history given was, at least for me, something not commonly taught or learned.

I appreciated Mr. Rose's efforts with this book and look forward to reading more of his works.

Some readers will be disappointed, expecting what the book does not attempt to offer. The title is misleading, since it suggests, in general, rifles made in America, which would lead a reader to expect a narrative covering both commercial and military American rifles. The emphasis is, in fact, on the evolution of the shoulder-fired military rifle and its ammunition, with side glances at commercial rifles to the extent that they were considered for military use or influenced military choices. It is a carefully researched social history and not a technical discussion of America's military rifle, so do not look for details of operating principles; the author, apparently, does not find pleasure in such specifics. Endnotes are extensive (63 pages) and scholarly. The bibliography was excised by the publisher but is available as a 23 page .pdf file at the author's website.

A theme running through the narrative is the military debate between views arguing for (1) massed unaimed fire, as occurred with ranked muskets firing en masse against the enemy, and which occurs in modern unaimed rapid-fire bursts during covering fire; against (2) the deliberate, aimed fire of a marksman, as occurred more frequently with the advent of the rifled bore and during fighting tactics necessary on the American frontier, and which in its purest form is the sine qua non of the military sniper. The book shares this theme with W. H. Hallahan's book Misfire: The History of How America's Small Arms Have Failed Our Military, which focuses, unlike the book under review, specifically on the rifles of the U.S. military's Springfield Armory.

American Rifle is well-written and informative. In particular, it is free of the often reflexive anti-gun bias that usually permeates historical nonfiction today.

I just finished reading American Rifle. Wow! An equanimous, fair, and balanced book about firearms -informative and a fun read -- unheard of -- but Alexander Rose did it!

When my wife presented me with the book, I received it with as much grace as I could muster knowing I would have to read the damn thing out of sheer courtesy if nothing else - yet another dry and ponderous book about guns and history and stuff. Wrong!

Although I do not consider myself a bona fide firearms expert, I believe I am something more than a dilettante. I am fairly confident that I have forgotten more about firearms than most people ever knew. So in that context, I can only say that for a firearms enthusiast of my ilk, American Rifle is a masterpiece. A surprise. A delight. It breathes new life into a well worn story. It illuminates and puts into focus issues that have been fuzzily buzzing around in my head for decades. I can't count how many times it provided plausible answers to the myriad questions of "why" I have been asking myself for years.

For a non-firearms-enthusiast who wants to expand his or her horizons a bit, I can't think of a better book to read. Find out how the rifle plays into and reflects the culture in which we live - and enjoy yourself while doing it. The book worked at every level -- substance, form, style, wit, perspective. . The cultural and socio-political-economic impact of the X ring - impressive. The personalities came alive, and their motivations resonate exquisitely.

I thank Alexander Rose for the book. It's a profound and important work, and it ain't often you get to read a profound and important work that's fun and entertaining to boot.

I have collected, read and shot for the last 70 years but this is the best book on the subject of the American rifle I have encountered. It goes into the history of the long arm in general but concentrates on the American military experience. It shows the influence of the development of arms production on all areas of manufacturing. It also gives an excellent description of the influence of politics and personalities on the operations of the arsenals and of the military theories behind the arguments for the choice of single-shot versus magazine rifles as standard for the armed forces. I must admit that I did find one example of what must have been a typo on page 197 . The caliber chosen for the American team in the first Creedmoor match is described as .45-550-90 (bore diameter-weight of black powder charge-weight of bullet). 550 grains weight of black powder would have been quite spectacular! Obviously the powder charge weight and that of the bullet have been transposed.

With 'American Rifle' mr. Rose has provided the world with a very informative book. Starting in the late 1700s and culminating in 2008 Rose takes the reader behind the scenes, political and technical, and shows the road the American service rifle had taken through the ages in a way no other author has done before. History and technical books often make very boring reading one has to struggle through to collect the facts you need. Not so with the 'American Rifle'. It is eminently entertaining reading for those with a more than passing interest in American service rifles and serious students alike.
Even so this is and remains a reference work. It is not lavishly illustrated, but the 50 odd informative b&w illustrations included provide the necessary touch. The last 82 of its 495 pages consist of footnote references, credits and an extensive index, which all add immensely to the value of the book for a student of the topic. It is a must-buy for military enthusiasts and a nice to have for all firearm buffs.
Apart from the fancy embossed dust jacket, the book, as expected, has a business-like but suprizingly palatable design. It is sturdy and well-produced. The font and the paper type combine to offer easy reading. I would like to see more of this type of book from mr. Rose.