American Rifle: A Biography

Michael Korda

Like David McCullough in The Great Bridge, Rose has the rare ability to make technology come alive even for the non-technology-minded. He is not only a good historian but also a gifted storyteller, and I hope his book will make its way beyond the readership of American Rifleman and Shotgun News to everyone who wants to read about a singular and enduring artifact in American life and history.
—The Washington Post

Publishers Weekly

In this solid history, Rose (Washington's Spies) explores the development of the rifle, such as how it evolved in American history to become an iconic symbol of freedom and how it developed as an effective military instrument as well as a private citizen's firearm. Drawing on numerous primary sources, from letters and journals of ordinary soldiers to the writings of inventors such as Samuel Colt, Rose traces the rise of the rifle from its original use as a hunting tool and a means of defense and protection to its eventual use as an offensive weapon in wars of conquest. Loaded with facts, the book reveals that firearms didn't come into their own in the colonies until 1609, when Samuel de Champlain led his men on a raid of the Mohawks. In their increasing contact with European adventurers and traders, Native Americans recognized the power of firearms and cannily traded for such weapons. By the early 18th century, gunsmiths of German extraction invented a rifle that had greater accuracy and distance than muskets. The Kentucky rifle, so named because it's rumored that Daniel Boone carried one of these early rifles in his travels around the frontier, was easier to load and could drop a bear, or a British soldier, in fewer shots and at a more distant range than a musket. In his entertaining history, Rose engagingly chronicles Americans' peculiar quest to build a more refined and effective firearm. (Oct.)

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Library Journal

Properly, this is a history of the development of the American military rifle, a story that begins with frontiersmen bringing their personal weapons to the fight, then a government with varying degrees of reluctance developing the capability to arm large numbers of fighting men. Historian Rose (American Spies ) is at his best with the Colonial, Revolutionary, and Civil wars, explaining in great but absorbing detail the intricacies of flintlock vs. musket vs. percussion rifle, smoothbore vs. rifling, muzzle loader vs. breech loader. He's intimate with the various pioneering gunsmiths and the growing trend toward industrialization of warfare throughout the 19th century. A constant theme is the endless, excruciating debate between those who desire an army of highly trained marksmen as opposed to those who plump for firepower. He's briefer and less convincing, though well documented, about the 20th century, particularly post-World War II armaments, although the development of the AR-16 as a challenger to the AK-47 makes an interesting comparison. Recommended for most libraries, this will find readers among historians, militarists, gun enthusiasts, and Americana buffs. Includes extensive footnotes and a lengthy bibliography. -Edwin B. Burgess, U.S. Army Combined Arms Research Lib., Fort Leavenworth, KS

Kirkus Reviews

A nuts-and-bolts description of American firearms development that provides surprising insight into the country's history. Historian Rose (Washington's Spies, 2006) reminds readers that the rifle remained a civilian weapon until the Civil War. Centuries earlier, gunsmiths learned that engraving a spiral inside the smooth-barreled musket ("rifling") made the bullet spin, increasing range and accuracy. The downside: Rifle-boring was a skilled, labor-intensive process, and the bullet had to grip the barrel tightly to pick up spin. Musketeers dropped a ball down the barrel; riflemen required a powerful ramrod. Expense and slow operation mattered little to hunters, who preferred rifles as early as the 17th century. During the 18th, American gunsmiths lengthened and narrowed the barrel to produce the Kentucky rifle, more accurate and also cheaper because of the smaller bullet. Massed armies with muskets fought major battles from the Revolution to the Mexican War, but riflemen gave a good account of themselves as snipers and guerrillas. They even won some battles: At King's Mountain in 1780, for example, dense forests gave the advantage to slow-firing but accurate rifles. Technical progress made rifles the preferred Civil War weapon, although muskets remained common. The author ably demonstrates the struggles of inventors who developed reliable breech loaders, all-in-one bullets and repeating rifles before the war, only to have the Union army's hidebound ordinance chief turn up his nose at them. During the postwar decades, all were adopted despite fierce opposition by experts convinced that marksmanship, not rapid fire, wins battles. That controversy continues to rage, and Rose's account neverflags as he proceeds through the nasty engineering and political and media battles that produced the Springfield 1903 (World War I), Garand M1 (WWII) and M14, ending with the Vietnam era's superb, but not perfect, M16, which remains today's infantry rifle with no end in sight. Ingenious and satisfying. Agent: Emma Parry/Fletcher & Parry