Machine Gun: The Story of the Men and the Weapon That Changed the Face of War

by Anthony Smith

The machine gun is a uniquely American invention that, more than any other single invention, revolutionized the way in which war was waged. Machine Gun tells the story of the people responsible for the development of the weapon itself - beginning with Samuel Colt's creation of the first mass-produced, rapid-firing revolver; to Dr. Richard Gatling and his Gatling Gun; and Hiram Maxim, whose Maxim Gun was the first truly automatic weapon.

In this engrossing history, Smith traces the uses of the rapid-fire gun and its slow integration into the weaponry of military forces around the world. First used primarily to 'pacify' native populations, the machine gun was not fully integrated into military tactics until after the unprecedented casualties of World War I and the resultant social upheaval that utterly changed the very nature of tactical warfare. Machine Gun is an enthralling account of the people who invented and promoted the weapon, how it affected the very nature of warfare, and of the society out of which it arose - and which it in turn transformed inexorably.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Military Fiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published October 19, 2003

Reviews

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Repetitive and rather boring.

[Steve Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

Smith does a pretty good job of outlining the history of the machine gun and pointing out the huge contribution of American inventiveness to the development of the weapon.

My edition, however, was a simple paperback with an incomplete bibliography that doesn't match the author's references. In addition, Smith references a book by Barbara Tuchman (another book not in the bibliography) by the wrong title. There are no footnotes. I prefer those.

In addition, Smith lists the Colt handgun as being responsible for the accidental death of one of the sisters of Harriet Beecher Stowe. Stowe's sister was, apparently, injured by a handgun accidentally, but survived to an old age. This might be a defect in one of Smith's sources, however.

Not a bad book, and worth looking at. A better book with much of the same information is "The Gun" by C.J. Chivers. This is an account of the development and history of the A.K. 47. I recommend both for those interested in the topic.

[Kyle · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a biography of some early inventors and some overly emotional, sentimental and antiquated discussion of their work.
It isn't a technical history.
It isn't a military history.
It isn't a doctrinal history.
It has little bearing on social science.

You do, however, learn where Richard Gatling's house in Hartford is, and that it was a little run down for a while but that it's now subdivided into apartments and has been spruced up, though nobody living there has any idea that Gatling lived there and there really should be a plaque or something.