The Guns of John Moses Browning : : the Remarkable Story of the Inventor Whose Firearms Changed the World

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Call Number: 683.4 Go
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

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Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	683.4 Go	4-week checkout	On Shelf

"The first major biography of "the Thomas Edison of guns," John Moses Browning, a visionary inventor who designed the modern handgun and whose awe-inspiring array of firearms helped ensure victory in numerous American wars and found an important place in American culture. Few people are aware that John Moses Browning-a tall, humble, cerebral man born in 1855 and raised as a Mormon in the American West-was the mind behind many of the world-changing firearms that dominated more than a century of conflict. He invented the crucial design used in virtually all modern pistols, created the most popular hunting rifles and shotguns, and conceived the machine guns that proved decisive not just in World Wars I and II but nearly every major military action since. Yet few in America knew his name until he was into his sixties. Now, author Nathan Gorenstein brings firearms inventor John Moses Browning to vivid life in this riveting and revealing biography. Embodying the tradition of self-made, self-educated geniuses (like Lincoln and Edison), Browning was able to think in three dimensions (he never used blueprints) and his gifted mind produced everything from the famous Winchester "30-30" hunting rifle to the awesomely effective machine guns used by every American aircraft and infantry unit in World War II. The British credited Browning's guns with helping to win the Battle of Britain. His inventions illustrate both the good and bad of weapons. Sweeping, lively, and brilliantly told, this fascinating book introduces a little-known American legend whose impact on history ranks with that of the Wright Brothers, Thomas Edison, and Henry Ford"-- Provided by publisher.

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Uneven submitted by GJBarnett2 on August 24, 2021, 12:27am The story of a true genius whose influence is still felt today. The .50 cal machine gun was initially adopted by the US Army in 1921 and its M2 (Ma Deuce) variant, adopted in 1933, is still in service today. The M1911 "45 Automatic" originally adopted in that year, although replaced in 1985, remains in production by dozens of manufactures in scores of variations even today. Oddly, perhaps the biggest shortcoming is the inadequate number and quality of photos. Of the merely 20, 4 are formal studio portraits of Browning and family members, one is of "Browning's first pistol" but one must search the text for the model designation; another is of the Luger pistol (!) and most of the rest, including an image of a newspaper report of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, (by a Browning pistol!) which ignited WWI, are simply irrelevant. Remarkably, the only images of the M1911 .45 ACP pistol and the M1919A4 machine gun are small line schematics which contribute nothing to an understanding of either the technical or historical significance of either. Overall not bad but could have been a lot better.