American Rifle, A Biography

[Digger]

Hi Y'all,

I just finished reading American Rifle, A Biography, Alexander Rose, Delacorte Press, 2008, 409 pp, ISBN 978-0-553-80517-8.  Fascinating.  Well worth the time to read.  He covers the history of the American service rifle from its origins in the Pennsylvania backwoods to the urban firefights of Baghdad.  I especially enjoyed this treatment of the rifle's development as a continuous history. Putting the firearm in the context of general industrial advancement in the Nineteenth Century took most of his time, but gave complete new insights into the industrial revolution.  Since he does spend so much of his time from 1740 to 1900, it's an especially useful research tool for us cowboy shooters.  He covers only enough of the politics surrounding service rifle selection to provide a context, without becoming a tome about politics.  Refreshingly, he also avoided getting into extraneous issues about gun control.  Good book; you won't be sorry.


Digger