10-20
A01=John Bainbridge
A01=John Bainbridge Jr.
A01=Jr.
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
Author_John Bainbridge
Author_John Bainbridge Jr.
Author_Jr.
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Category1=Fiction
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=BG
Category=DNB
Category=FJW
COP=United Kingdom
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
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eq_biography-true-stories
eq_isMigrated=2
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Jr.
Language_English
PA=Available
Price_€20 to €50
PS=Active
softlaunch
Westerns
Product details
- ISBN 9781785906411
- Dimensions: 156 x 213mm
- Publication Date: 24 May 2022
- Publisher: Biteback Publishing
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
- Language: English
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It's the nineteenth century. As America prepares for civil war, five men living within ninety miles of one another will change the course of history. The invention and refinement of the repeating firearm-the precursor to today's automatic weapons-means life in America and beyond will never be the same again.
In this riveting work of narrative history, veteran reporter John Bainbridge, Jr. vividly brings to life the five charismatic and idiosyncratic men at the heart of the story: the huckster and hard-living Samuel Colt; the cunning former shirt-maker Oliver Winchester; the constant tinkerer Horace Smith; the resilient and innovative businessman Daniel Wesson; and the skinny abolitionist Christopher Spencer. As the men competed ferociously, each trying to corner the market for repeating weapons, invention and necessity collided in a perfect storm: America was crashing violently towards furious sectarianism, irrevocable tensions, and, of course, bloodthirsty war.
Though capable of firing many times without reloading, astonishingly, the new guns faced a government backlash for using too much ammunition. Sold directly to soldiers, sometimes just as they were walking into battle, they quickly became coveted possessions, both during the Civil War and in the conquering of the West-and thus America's romance with personal firearms was born.
Wide-ranging and vividly told, this is a gripping story of tenacity, conviction, innovation, and pure heartless greed.
John Bainbridge, Jr. is an attorney, freelance writer, and former newspaper reporter and editor. With bestselling novelist and Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic Stephen Hunter, he co-authored American Gunfight: The Plot to Kill President Truman-and The Shoot-out That Stopped It.
