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American Gun: A History of the U.S. in Ten Firearms
by William Doyle Chris KyleChris Kyle--fallen hero and #1 bestselling author of American Sniper--reveals how ten legendary guns forever changed U.S. history. At the time of his tragic death in February 2013, former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, the top sniper in U.S. military history, was finishing one of the most exciting missions of his life: a remarkable book that retold American history through the lens of a hand-selected list of firearms. Kyle masterfully shows how guns have played a fascinating, indispensable, and often underappreciated role in our national story. "Perhaps more than any other nation in the world," Kyle writes, "the history of the United States has been shaped by the gun. Firearms secured the first Europeans hold on the continent, opened the frontier, helped win our independence, settled the West, kept law and order, and defeated tyranny across the world. "Drawing on his unmatched firearms knowledge and combat experience, Kyle carefully chose ten guns to help tell his story: the American long rifle, Spencer repeater, Colt . 45 revolver, Winchester rifle, Springfield 1903 rifle, Thompson sub-machine gun, 1911 pistol, M1 Garand, . 38 Special police revolver, and the M-16 rifle platform Kyle himself used as a SEAL. Through them, he revisits thrilling turning points in American history, including the single sniper shot that turned the tide of the Revolutionary War, the firearms designs that proved decisive at Gettysburg, the "gun that won the West," and the weapons that gave U. S. soldiers an edge in the world wars and beyond. This is also the story of how firearms innovation, creativity, and industrial genius has constantly pushed American history--and power--forward. Filled with an unforgettable cast of characters, Chris Kyle's American Gun is a sweeping epic of bravery, adventure, invention, and sacrifice.
American Gun: The True Story of the AR-15
by Cameron McWhirter Zusha ElinsonA finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize“A magisterial work of narrative history and original reportage . . . You can feel the tension building one cold, catastrophic fact at a time . . . A virtually unprecedented achievement.” —Mike Spies, The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)A Washington Post top 50 nonfiction book of 2023 | Short-listed for the Zócalo Book PrizeOne of The New York Times’ 33 nonfiction books to read this fall | One of Esquire’s best books of fall | A Kirkus Reviews best nonfiction book of 2023Named a most anticipated book of the fall by The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and BloombergAmerican Gun: The True Story of the AR-15 presents the epic history of America’s most controversial weapon.In the 1950s, an obsessive firearms designer named Eugene Stoner invented the AR-15 rifle in a California garage. High-minded and patriotic, Stoner sought to devise a lightweight, easy-to-use weapon that could replace the M1s touted by soldiers in World War II. What he did create was a lethal handheld icon of the American century.In American Gun, the veteran Wall Street Journal reporters Cameron McWhirter and Zusha Elinson track the AR-15 from inception to ubiquity. How did the same gun represent the essence of freedom to millions of Americans and the essence of evil to millions more? To answer this question, McWhirter and Elinson follow Stoner—the American Kalashnikov—as he struggled mightily to win support for his invention, which under the name M16 would become standard equipment in Vietnam. Shunned by gun owners at first, the rifle’s popularity would take off thanks to a renegade band of small-time gun makers. And in the 2000s, it would become the weapon of choice for mass shooters, prompting widespread calls for proscription even as the gun industry embraced it as a financial savior. Writing with fairness and compassion, McWhirter and Elinson explore America’s gun culture, revealing the deep appeal of the AR-15, the awful havoc it wreaks, and the politics of reducing its toll. The result is a moral history of contemporary America’s love affair with technology, freedom, and weaponry.Includes 8 pages of black-and-white images.
American Hangman: MSgt. John C. Woods: The United States Army’s Notorious Executioner in World War II and Nürnberg
by French L. MacLeanThe first biography of MSgt. John C. Woods, infamous US Army hangman of the Nuremberg trials MacLean meticulously separates fact from the mythology surrounding this enigmatic figure This is a follow-on book to The Fifth Field, winner of the 2013 Richard G. Trefry Award from the Army Historical Foundation
American Haven
by Elizabeth YatesTeenagers Michael and Meredith Lamb find new friends and mountains to climb when they travel from war-torn London to New Hampshire with their Uncle Tony during World War II.
American Heavy Frigates 1794-1826
by Mark LardasBy 1805 the 44-gun frigate was probably viewed as a failed experiment whilst the 38-gun frigate was viewed as the vessel of the future. Ten years later every navy was building 44-gun frigates and today it is viewed as the symbol of the Napoleonic-era cruiser. This remarkable transformation resulted from the performance of three ships – the Constitution, United States, and President – 44-gun frigates built for the United States Navy between 1794 and 1799. Their victories in the naval War of 1812, as well as their performance against the Barbary Pirates, caught the imagination of the world – and spurred all navies into re-examining the class.
American Heritage History of Flight
by Arthur GordonPeople dreamed of flight for thousands of years. When we finally took to the skies, a new world opened up. This sweeping, superbly researched history from American Heritage details how various pioneers and innovators - from the Wright Brothers to Chuck Yeager - helped lift us into the sky.
American Heroes on the Homefront
by Oliver NorthCombat-decorated Marine Oliver North delivers a riveting firsthand account of the extraordinary young American volunteers—the best and bravest of their generation—who stepped forward to defend us from radical Islamic terror. For more than a dozen years North and his award-winning documentary team from FOX News Channel’sWar Stories have traveled to the frontlines of the War on Terror to profile the dedicated men and women who serve our nation in harm’s way and chronicle what it truly means to be a hero. This time, he follows them from the battlefield to the homefront and finds extraordinary inspiration in their triumph over life-altering adversity. In this new volume of his New York Times bestselling American Heroes series, North describes in vivid detail the breathtaking courage, steadfast commitment, and resilient strength of those who serve—and those who love them. The term “selfless devotion” may be a cliché to many in our modern culture—but not to the men and women on the pages of this book. Their stories resound with bravery, a warrior ethos, and spiritual strength that ought to encourage us all. Heroes are people who knowingly place themselves at risk for the benefit of others. They give of themselves, literally and physically. Since the terror attack of 9-11- 01, more than 2 million young Americans have volunteered to serve in difficult and dangerous places. No military force in history has been asked to do more than those who have served and sacrificed in this long fight. They are American heroes. So too are their loved ones here at home. These are their stories.
American Heroes: From the #1 bestselling authors of Walk in My Combat Boots
by James Patterson Matt EversmannFrom the authors of Walk in My Combat Boots, “American Heroes is a gripping collection of firsthand accounts…capturing the indomitable spirit of our nation’s finest&” (Jack Carr, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Terminal List series). U.S. soldiers who served in overseas conflicts—from World War II, Korea, and Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan—share true stories of the actions that earned them some of America’s most distinguished military medals, up to and including the Medal of Honor. They never acted alone, but always in the spirit of camaraderie, patriotism, and for the good of our beloved country. There has never been a better time for all of us to think about duty, sacrifice, and what it means to be an American hero. <br><b>New York Times Bestseller</b></br>
American Heroes: In The Fight Against Radical Islam
by Chuck Holton Oliver NorthI have the best job in all broadcasting. Soldiers, sailors, airmen, Guardsmen, and Marines—those who fight America's wars—are my only "beat." I hang around with heroes for a living.
American Heroes: On the Homefront
by Oliver NorthFrom the New York Times bestselling author of Heroes Proved, a moving collection of "straightforward, honest testimonials to the courage American troops display on and off the battlefield" (Kirkus Reviews).For more than a dozen years, combat-decorated Marine Oliver North and his award-winning documentary team from FOX News Channel's War Stories traveled to the frontlines of the War on Terror to profile the dedicated men and women who serve our nation. This time, he follows them from the battlefield to the homefront and finds extraordinary inspiration in their triumph over life-altering adversity. In this new volume of his New York Times bestselling American Heroes series, North describes the courage, commitment, and strength of those who serve--and those who love them. The term "selfless devotion" may be a cliché to many--but not to the men and women on the pages of this book. Their stories resound with bravery, a warrior ethos, and spiritual strength that will encourage us all. Heroes are people who knowingly place themselves at risk for the benefit of others. Since the terror attack of 9-11-01, more than 2 million young Americans have volunteered to serve in difficult and dangerous places. No military force in history has been asked to do more than those who have served and sacrificed in this long fight. They are American heroes. So too are their loved ones here at home. These are their stories.
American Heroes: On the Homefront
by Oliver NorthFrom the New York Times bestselling author of Heroes Proved, a moving collection of "straightforward, honest testimonials to the courage American troops display on and off the battlefield" (Kirkus Reviews).For more than a dozen years, combat-decorated Marine Oliver North and his award-winning documentary team from FOX News Channel's War Stories traveled to the frontlines of the War on Terror to profile the dedicated men and women who serve our nation. This time, he follows them from the battlefield to the homefront and finds extraordinary inspiration in their triumph over life-altering adversity. In this new volume of his New York Times bestselling American Heroes series, North describes the courage, commitment, and strength of those who serve--and those who love them. The term "selfless devotion" may be a cliché to many--but not to the men and women on the pages of this book. Their stories resound with bravery, a warrior ethos, and spiritual strength that will encourage us all. Heroes are people who knowingly place themselves at risk for the benefit of others. Since the terror attack of 9-11-01, more than 2 million young Americans have volunteered to serve in difficult and dangerous places. No military force in history has been asked to do more than those who have served and sacrificed in this long fight. They are American heroes. So too are their loved ones here at home. These are their stories.
American History Revised: 200 Startling Facts That Never Made It into the Textbooks
by Seymour Morris Jr.This spirited reexamination of American history (1776-2000) digs deep into our past to expose 200 startling facts that never made it into the textbooks, and highlights how little-known individuals and events played surprisingly influential roles in the great American story. We tend to think of history as settled, set in stone, but American History Revised is filled with evidence that American history is filled with ironies, surprises, and misconceptions. As author Seymour Morris, Jr. colorfully illustrates through the 200 historical vignettes that make up this book, much of our nation's past is quite different - and far more remarkable -- than we thought. Here we learn that in 1932, the U.S. Navy staged a mock attack on Pearl Harbor that resulted in the conclusion that the entire fleet of ships and planes stationed there were vulnerable to being wiped out on a Sunday morning. The Navy swore such an event could never happen and then forgot about it. The Japanese, however, noticed. And on December 7th, 1941, they copied the military exercise exactly. We also discover that: * America's largest corporation has never appeared on a Fortune 500 list * The two generals who ended the Civil War weren't Grant and Lee * The #1 best-selling American book of all time was written in one day * The Dutch made a bad investment buying Manhattan for $24 * Two young girls aimed someday to become First Lady - and succeeded * Three private financiers saved the U.S. from bankruptcy. Organized into ten thematic chapters, American History Revised plumbs American history's numerous inconsistencies, twists and turns to make it come alive again. Written in a lucid, often puckish style and backed by serious scholarship, extensive footnotes, and 50 illustrations, this book will leave readers astonished and entertained.
American Indian Tribes of the Southwest
by Michael Johnson Jonathan SmithThis book continues Osprey's series of Men-at-Arms titles on the history, costume, and material culture of the native peoples of North America, which is organized into geographical regions, language groups, and tribes. It was in the Southwest - modern Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of California and other neighboring states - that the first major clashes took place between 16th-century Spanish conquistadors and the indigenous peoples of North America. This uniquely long history of contact, conflict, and coexistence with first the Spanish, then their Mexican settlers, and finally the Americans, gives a special flavor to the region. So too does the wide cultural diversity of the peoples who inhabited the challenging environment of the Southwest - from the quasi-Plains culture of the Kiowa-Apache and Lipan, to the pueblo cave-villages of the agricultural Zuni and Hopi. (Indeed, from c. 1700 to 1848 the Pueblo villagers often allied themselves with Spanish and Mexican settlers against the encroachments of Apache and Navajo hunters and raiders.) Despite nearly 500 years of white settlement and pressure, the traditional cultures of the peoples of the Southwest survive today more strongly than in any other region, and with them a sense of separate identity. The best-known clashes between the whites and the Indians of this region are the series of Apache wars, particularly between the early 1860s and the late 1880s. However, there were other important regional campaigns over the centuries - for example, Coronado's battle against the Zuni at Hawikuh in 1540, during his search for the legendary "Seven Cities of Cibola"; the Pueblo Revolt of 1680; and the Taos Revolt of 1847 - and warriors of all of these are described and illustrated in this book. War was inseparable in the local cultures from religious beliefs, such as the veneration of the mothers of war gods - White Painted Woman among the Apache, and Changing Woman among the Navajo; the plates in this book illustrate the rites associated with such figures, and several other important ritual observances. The variety of costumes illustrated, from the earliest times up to today, make these plates especially rich.
American Infidel: Robert G. Ingersoll, A Biography
by Orvin P. LarsonThe definitive biography of the man who more than any other figure in the history of the United States influenced the course of popular thought in the realm of unorthodoxy."...one of the bravest, grandest champions of human liberty the world has ever seen."Rediscover Robert Green Ingersoll. Celebrated orator of 19th century America, lawyer, Civil War officer, personal friend of three US presidents, the individual most responsible for the flowering of freethought in the United States.
American Insurgents, American Patriots: The Revolution of the People
by T. H. BreenBefore there could be a revolution, there was a rebellion; before patriots, there were insurgents. Challenging and displacing decades of received wisdom, T. H. Breen's strikingly original book explains how ordinary Americans - most of them members of farm families living in small communities - were drawn into a successful insurgency against imperial authority. This is the compelling story of our national political origins that most Americans do not know. It is a story of rumor, charity, vengeance, and restraint. American Insurgents, American Patriotsreminds us that revolutions are violent events. They provoke passion and rage, a willingness to use violence to achieve political ends, a deep sense of betrayal, and a strong religious conviction that God expects an oppressed people to defend their rights. The American Revolution was no exception. A few celebrated figures in the Continental Congress do not make for a revolution. It requires tens of thousands of ordinary men and women willing to sacrifice, kill, and be killed. Breen not only gives the history of these ordinary Americans but, drawing upon a wealth of rarely seen documents, restores their primacy to American independence. Mobilizing two years before the Declaration of Independence, American insurgents in all thirteen colonies concluded that resistance to British oppression required organized violence against the state. They channeled popular rage through elected committees of safety and observation, which before 1776 were the heart of American resistance. American Insurgents, American Patriotsis the stunning account of their insurgency, without which there would have been no independent republic as we know it.
American Intelligence in War-time London: The Story of the OSS
by Nelson MacPhersonBased on OSS records only recently released to US National Archives, and on evidence from British archival sources, this is a thoroughly researched study of the Office of Strategic Services in London. The OSS was a critical liaison and operational outpost for American intelligence during World War II. Dr MacPherson puts the activities of the OSS in
American Journalists in the Great War: Rewriting the Rules of Reporting (Studies in War, Society, and the Military)
by Chris DubbsWhen war erupted in Europe in 1914, American journalists hurried across the Atlantic ready to cover it the same way they had covered so many other wars. However, very little about this war was like any other. Its scale, brutality, and duration forced journalists to write their own rules for reporting and keeping the American public informed.American Journalists in the Great War tells the dramatic stories of the journalists who covered World War I for the American public. Chris Dubbs draws on personal accounts from contemporary newspaper and magazine articles and books to convey the experiences of the journalists of World War I, from the western front to the Balkans to the Paris Peace Conference. Their accounts reveal the challenges of finding the war news, transmitting a story, and getting it past the censors. Over the course of the war, reporters found that getting their scoop increasingly meant breaking the rules or redefining the very meaning of war news. Dubbs shares the courageous, harrowing, and sometimes humorous stories of the American reporters who risked their lives in war zones to record their experiences and send the news to the people back home.
American Knights
by Victor FailmezgerAn unmissable white-knuckle ride from the Kasserine pass to Anzio, Operation Dragoon to the final attacks on the Third Reich, this is the gripping story of the men and machines that took on Nazi Germany's best. This book not only reveals the technical details and origins of the 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion, it places the reader on the front lines of the European war. As the war swung in the favor of the Allies, it became clear that no final defeat of the Third Reich would be possible until the armored monsters of the Panzerwaffe were defeated. But who would, or even could, take on the mighty Tigers and Panthers, just a handful of whom could stop entire formations in their tracks? The answer lay with the formation of a new type of unit, the Tank Destroyer Batallion. This is the story of the men and machines who made up the very first Tank Destroyer Batallion, the 601st, from their unique training and formation, to the final, desperate battles in the heart of Nazi Germany. Packed with rare material, letters, diaries and unpupublished photographs, this is an intense and intimate chronicle of the men who fought the Panzers in an astonishing 10 campaigns and 546 days of lethal combat. Re-live the excitement and terror of battling the best the Wehrmacht and SS had to offer, in every major campaign in the West.
American Light and Medium Frigates 1794-1836
by Tony Bryan Mark LardasThe "Original Six" frigates were commissioned by the new-born US Navy at a staggering cost of $688,888.82. Designed to be light and fast, these warships enabled America to project its power across the globe. Among the ships Mark Lardas examines is USS Constellation: the first ship to be commissioned by the United States Navy, and also the first ship to engage and capture an enemy vessel, the French L'Insurgente - this engagement is vividly portrayed in original color artwork. The fascinating history of the USS Chesapeake is also brought to life through the dramatic account one of the bloodiest duels in the age of fighting sail as the Chesapeake meets the British frigate Shannon and is overwhelmed, the dying cry of the captain, "Don't give up the ship!" inspired the US Navy thereafter. Alongside stirring accounts of engagements during the Barbary Wars and the Quasi-War, the author explores the design and development of these frigates, explaining the shortcomings that led to their replacement by larger, heavier 44-gun models by 1800. Contemporary illustrations of US frigates and their British and French rivals help to place these ships in the context of European ship design, clearly showing the escalation of the naval 'arms race' during the seventeenth century. American Light and Medium Frigates is an ideal resource for any naval enthusiast wanting to learn more about the ships that witnessed the rise of the US Navy and Marines.
American Loyalist Troops 1775-84
by Gerry Embleton Rene ChartrandTo celebrate the 450th title in the Men-at-Arms series, this book examines in depth the units and the uniforms of a still-controversial army: the many thousands of American colonists who chose to fight for King George during the Revolution. In addition to the better-known corps from the Atlantic seaboard, the author also covers the units raised for service against the Spanish in the Floridas, the Caribbean islands and Central America. The text is illustrated with portraits, photographs of rare surviving artifacts, and features color reconstructions by Gerry Embleton, the respected expert on 18th century American forces whose work was recently exhibited in the Smithsonian Institute.
American Mercenary: The Riveting, High-Risk World of an Elite SEAL Team Operator Turned Hired Gun
by Daniel CorbettAn elite Navy SEAL Team 6 operator trained to kill the United States&’ most dangerous enemies takes readers inside the unadulterated, morally complicated and riveting post-military adventures of a lethal American mercenary. In American Mercenary, Daniel Corbett takes readers on a wild ride through the unadulterated, morally ambiguous, and riveting world of being a hired gun. From Abu Dhabi to Washington, DC, Cairo to San Diego, Belgrade to places that must remain secret, this is a world where money rules, and where adventure, danger, and absurdity often follow. A star high school athlete, Corbett passed on a Division I football career and opted for the US Navy. He began his career at SEAL Team 5 and eventually checked into SEAL Team 6. The navy spent millions teaching him and his fellow Team members how to sneak, subvert, recruit, disappear, survive, resist, and exert. And of course, how to shoot, a discipline at which Corbett excelled. What the navy did not do was prepare these men for post-military lives beyond the usual suite of veterans&’ benefits and unimaginative job-training programs. So what does Corbett do? He goes private. There are still plenty of bad men in the world, and the only sin worse than wasting talent in dead-end pursuits is not using it at all. He starts small, but quickly moves up. The work is simultaneously familiar and foreign. The command structure is shady. The clients are dubious. The equipment is subpar. But what the fuck: the pay is good. Then things change in 2017 when Corbett is arrested on a job in Belgrade, Serbia. When the authorities discover he&’s a Navy SEAL, they imagine the worst: he&’s in Belgrade to assassinate the Serbian president. They throw Corbett in jail, where he spends the next 18 months making international headlines and fighting for his freedom in a kangaroo court. Ultimately, American Mercenary highlights the struggle of many veterans: how to reconcile military service with civilian life. For Corbett, becoming a mercenary isn&’t just the best option, it feels like the only option. It&’s a lot better than drowning in a bottle or holding a pistol under your chin and pulling the trigger, but is it enough?
American Midnight: The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy's Forgotten Crisis
by Adam HochschildSelected as one of the most anticipated books of Fall 2022 by the New York Times, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times and Chicago TribuneFrom legendary historian Adam Hochschild, a groundbreaking reassessment of the overlooked but startlingly resonant period between World War I and the Roaring Twenties, when the foundations of American democracy were threatened by war, pandemic, and violence fueled by battles over race, immigration, and the rights of labo"A riveting, resonant account of the fragility of freedom.”—Kirkus, STARRED reviewThe nation was on the brink. Mobs burned Black churches to the ground. Courts threw thousands of people into prison for opinions they voiced—in one notable case, only in private. Self-appointed vigilantes executed tens of thousands of citizens’ arrests. Some seventy-five newspapers and magazines were banned from the mail and forced to close. When the government stepped in, it was often to fan the flames. This was America during and after the Great War: a brief but appalling era blighted by lynchings, censorship, and the sadistic, sometimes fatal abuse of conscientious objectors in military prisons—a time whose toxic currents of racism, nativism, red-baiting, and contempt for the rule of law then flowed directly through the intervening decades to poison our own. It was a tumultuous period defined by a diverse and colorful cast of characters, some of whom fueled the injustice while others fought against it: from the sphinxlike Woodrow Wilson, to the fiery antiwar advocates Kate Richards O’Hare and Emma Goldman, to labor champion Eugene Debs, to a little-known but ambitious bureaucrat named J. Edgar Hoover, and to an outspoken leftwing agitator—who was in fact Hoover’s star undercover agent. It is a time that we have mostly forgotten about, until now. In American Midnight, award-winning historian Adam Hochschild brings alive the horrifying yet inspiring four years following the U.S. entry into the First World War, spotlighting forgotten repression while celebrating an unforgettable set of Americans who strove to fix their fractured country—and showing how their struggles still guide us today.
American Militarism on the Small Screen (Routledge Advances in Television Studies)
by Anna Froula Stacy TakacsAnna Froula is Associate Professor of Film Studies in the Department of English at East Carolina University, USA Stacy Takacs is Associate Professor and Director of American Studies at Oklahoma State University, USA
American Military History Volume 2: The United States Army In A Global Era, 1917-2008
by Richard StewartThe story of the United States Army is always growing and changing. Historians constantly seek to reinterpret the past while accumulating new facts as America’s Army continues to be challenged on new foreign battlefields. Nor does the Army, as an institution, ever stand still. It necessarily changes its organization, materiel, doctrine, and composition to cope with an ever-changing worldof current conflict and potential danger. Thus, the Center of Military History is committed topreparing new editions of American Military History as we seek to correct past mistakes, reinterpretnew facts, and bring the Army’s story up to date. This new edition of that textbook, an importantelement in soldier and officer education since 1956, seeks to do just that.This edition of American Military History builds on the previous edition, published in 2005, andexpands its coverage to include an analysis of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq up to January 2009.This expanded section is necessarily only an initial survey of the first eight years of the war onterrorism; it is far from the final word on the subject. It may take an additional decade or more to collect sufficient documents, interviews, memoirs, and other sources to know the details of military and political planning, the implementation of those plans on the global battlefield, and the impact on the Army as an institution and on the nation. The events of the past eight years are more like current events than they are history. History—the detailed telling of a story over time based upon all the extant evidence—requires more time to find and analyze the documents and facts and bring to bear on that evidence the insight that comes only from perspective. However, today’s soldiers need their story told. The events in which they participate and in which they are such important elements need to be given some form and order, no matter how tentative. The Army continues to be the nation’s servant, and the soldiers that make up that Army deserve their recognition. They continue to protect our freedom at great personal risk to themselves and incalculable cost to their loved ones.This is their continuing story.
American Military History: A Documentary Reader
by Brad D. LookingbillAmerican Military History: A Documentary Reader presents a comprehensive collection of primary documents relating to America's armed forces from the colonial period to the present. Features documents which introduce key people, events, and turning points in American military history Explores the importance of events not only in terms of military history, but also on a social and cultural level for the country at large.