American Gun: A History of the U.S. in Ten Firearms (P.S.)

Awesome book, and easy to read. I can't recommend it enough. Gives a good helping of American history and a bit of the technical aspects of the weapons themselves.I read American Sniper and enjoyed it thoroughly, so I probably would have been game for anything Chris Kyle would have written. As it turns out he wrote a history book, I love history! An American history book... I love America too! And it is about guns? The hell you say! It seemed right up my alley. It was the first book I ever pre-ordered. I devoured it in three sittings, it was extremely easy to read.The best thing about this book is that is American history in vignettes, there are dozens of short stories related to the gun in that chapter. He does not dwell on the dates, just the awesome stories behind the firearms. Some of my favorites are:Tim Murphy and his Kentucky Long Rifle as he shot an English Officer while crouched in a tree, the world's first recorded Sniper shot. He goes on to explain how the Americans, not only owned their guns but relied on them to survive in the frontier, while the British conscripted people, handed them a gun and sent to a foreign land they hated. The advantage - Americans.The Winchester '73 - The story of the Dalton Gang, duel bank robberies, and the first and only government supported gun grab. The leader gets away by stuffing the money in his clothes only to bleed out in an alley adjacent to the town square the rest of the gang died in.The M1911 - This is my favorite hand gun, sorry the Glock sucks, and the story of a World War II paratrooper shooting down a Japanese Zero pilot as he was drifting to the ground over enemy territory in Burma. He gets captured, and treated with respect by his captors for his amazing feat.The Tommy Gun - This is one gun I don't see on this list, but the history is no less thrilling. During WWII (again) some American soldiers were in a Jeep racing away from the enemy. One of the ones sitting in the back assembles a Tommy gun through the erratic getaway driving and shoots off the following vehicle. Amazed, his brothers in arms ask him were he learned to do that. He replied decades earlier, in his teens, he did it many times when he used to work as a bootlegger for Al Capone and would shoot at the cops chasing the vehicles.Since author used the weapons himself, it comes across as somebody who knows what the hell they are talking about. Good book from a true American hero. American history told through the eyes of our country's ten most Iconic Firearms. Since I enjoyed this book so much, I have since bought a few other copies, I gave one to a gun nut survivalist buddy of mine in Colorado, one to my uncle who is a life long NRA member, and one to my dad who just loves the cool stories.

Being familiar with Chris Kyle’s exploits as a sniper, I initially wrote off AMERICAN GUN as being nothing more than an expansion of his first book “American Sniper” … I was wrong. Instead, Kyle put his expertise and passion for firearms to use and offers a lively, different perspective of American history. He selects ten American guns he believes were pivotal in the evolving of this country, from the Revolution to present day, and illustrates their role in that history. The finished product is an entertaining and vibrant lesson on how firearms are as American as apple pie and baseball.AMERICAN GUN proved to be an enjoyable need and a showcase of Kyle’s talent as a storyteller. While the ten guns chosen (American Long Rifle, Spencer Repeater, Colt Single-Action Army Revolver, Winchester 1873 Rifle, M1903 Springfield, M1911 Pistol, Thompson Sub-machine Gun, M1 Garand, .38 Special and M16) are sure to be a source of argument (why one firearm was chosen over another), Kyle justified his choices with plenty of stories/accounts of the guns in action. Each chronologically sequenced chapter represents a particular firearm. Details of each gun are provided, along with an explanation of why they were so important, how they were effectively used and what led to them being replaced by the gun in the following chapter. The accounts of the guns “in action” are entertaining and fun to read; Kyle adds emphasis throughout the book with personal asides/opinions to further illustrate the historical references he cites. The end result is an easy, fast read. I personally enjoyed reading the chapter on the “Wild West” and detailed account of the infamous shootouts and the guns associated with them. The chapters covering the twentieth century are obviously heavily associated with US involvement in World Wars I and II, Korea and Vietnam and many of the accompanying story-lines are Medal of Honor citations.AMERICAN GUN provides a different view of American history, not the run-of-the-mill recap of a timeline. The book provides constant action and it keeps the pace going from beginning to end. It is easy to sense the enjoyment and passion Kyle had writing this book as it is evident throughout.

I read the late Chris Kyle's earlier book and loved it. I read American Gun and just liked it. While it was interesting and a fun read, it needed to go through at least one more round of editing. It was like Kyle was 80% there before his untimely death and then it was finished out without continuing the thoughts.If you're on the fence about this book, I would suggest that you go ahead and buy it. It is an interesting read and if you're not quite as up on the subject matter as I am, you may very well not notice the additions that should have been there. Kyle's style is very down to earth and personal, so it has the feel of sitting with him and having a discussion on guns. Who wouldn't love to do that?As a footnote to my comments, I have to say that all of Texas mourns his passing. I attended the NRA convention in Houston (2013) and listened to his wife speak to a full auditorium. There wasn't a dry eye in the house - including mine.