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Machine Gun: The Story of the Men and the Weapon That Changed the Face of War
Slight yellowing to page block, price pencilled on fep, otherwise very good clean copy in like dust jacket.
Hardcover
First published October 19, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 25, 2026
Something is off about this book. Certainly not the subject matter – the tone, all these asides? The pile upon pile of minutiae that hinders fast reading and makes you put the book down after a few pages? A very English sensibility? Guess I answered my own question.
January 19, 2021
Repetitive and rather boring.
April 16, 2013
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.
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.
October 23, 2007
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.
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.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews