American Gun

AMERICAN GUN                                         CHRIS KYLE & WILLIAM DOYLE
Posted: June 19, 2013

At the time of his tragic death in February 2013, former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, the top sniper in U.S. military history, was finishing one of the most exciting missions of his life: a remarkable book that retold American history through the lens of a hand-selected list of firearms. Kyle masterfully shows how guns have played a fascinating, indispensable, and often under appreciated role in our national story.

"Perhaps more than any other nation in the world," Kyle writes, "the history of the United States has been shaped by the gun. Firearms secured the first Europeans' hold on the continent, opened the frontier, helped win our independence, settled the West, kept law and order, and defeated tyranny across the world."

Drawing on his unmatched firearms knowledge and combat experience, Kyle carefully chose ten guns to help tell his story: the American long rifle, Spencer repeater, Colt .45 revolver, Winchester rifle, Springfield 1903 rifle, Thompson sub-machine gun, 1911 pistol, M1 Garand, .38 Special police revolver, and the M-16 rifle platform Kyle himself used as a SEAL. Through them, he revisits thrilling turning points in American history, including the single sniper shot that turned the tide of the Revolutionary War, the firearms designs that proved decisive at Gettysburg, the "gun that won the West," and the weapons that gave U.S. soldiers an edge in the world wars and beyond. This is also the story of how firearms innovation, creativity, and industrial genius has constantly pushed American history—and power—forward.

Filled with an unforgettable cast of characters, Chris Kyle's American Gun is a sweeping epic of bravery, adventure, invention, and sacrifice

HUBBY'S REVIEW:

First let me say that like so many other people I was sadden to hear about Mr. Chris Kyle's death along with Mr. Chad Littlefield. My prayers are with both of there families. I did read American Sniper The Autobiography of the most. Leathal Sniper in American History. That was a great book. This book is much different. He takes 10 American firearms and not only breaks down the history of the weapon, but also the history of the time period in which it was used. I have to say it was like going to a firearms museum with Mr. Kyle right next to you breaking down everything about that weapon, from when it was used to who made it and if it was a good weapon or not. For me this book hit home because I have fortunate to shoot some of the weapons in the book because my father was in the military and I was in law enforcement. I will say this I wish they still made the Colt M1911 pistol that is a fine weapon. This is a book about our history and guns have been there from the beginning. Sometimes hunting and sometimes fighting. Either way this is a good book to learn both.