American Gun (Non-Fiction) 3.5Stars

 

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Title: American Gun
Series: (Non-Fiction)
Author: Chris Kyle
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: History
Pages: 266
Words: 79K
Publish: 2013

The history of how 10 different guns have affected America through history. It was a mix of the history of the specific guns themselves and the history in which they were used and why Kyle thought they were important enough to include.

Definitely written by a gun enthusiast but with the knowledge that not all his readers would be the same, so he did a good job of explaining acronyms or gun specific terms so that any layman could understand what he was writing. That was a big plus in my opinion.

The author was a little bit “folksy” in his writing style and that I did not enjoy. It might work really well for other people, but I felt like the author was trying to be “my friend” through the book and that’s not why I was reading it. I do understand the intent behind it (to make it more personal and friendly), but it didn’t work that way for me. I just wanted the facts and I got a handshake and a smile along with those.

Kyle was a Navy SEAL and was killed in 2013 by a marine on the gun range, so this was a posthumous book finished by his wife and a second writer, William Doyle. I didn’t add Doyle’s name to the data block because I couldn’t tell, and it wasn’t specified, what part he did for this book. There was also an introduction and some sort of postscript by Kyle’s widow and I really disliked that. It was sentimental drivel (understandable given his death, but understandable doesn’t make it enjoyable) and embarrassed me just reading it. That was the main reason I dropped this down to 3.5stars.

Overall, I am very glad to have read this and learned what I did. If you want a quick, easy to read and understand book on how some specific guns have shaped the course of US history, this is a great book to accomplish that goal.

For interests sake, here are the ten guns Kyle talks about:

  1  The American Long Rifle

  2  The Spencer Repeater

  3  The Colt Single-Action Army Revolver

  4  The Winchester 1873 Rifle

  5  The M1903 Springfield

  6  The M1911 Pistol

  7  The Thompson Submachine Gun

  8  The M1 Garand

  9  The .38 Special Police Revolver

10  The M16 Rifle

★★★✬☆

From the Publisher

At the time of his tragic death in February 2013, former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, the most accomplished sniper in U.S. military history, was finishing a remarkable book that retoldAmerican history through the lens of a hand-selected list of firearms. Kyle masterfully argues that guns have played a fascinating, indispensable, and often under-appreciated role in our national story.

Kyle carefully chose ten guns to help tell his story., including the American long rifle, Colt .45 revolver, Winchester rifle, .38 police handgun, and M-16 rifle platform Kyle himself used as a SEAL. This is also the story of how American innovation, creativity, and industrial genius has constantly pushed technology - and U.S. power - forward.