Chris Kyle was the top sniper in U.S. Military history,
having served for combat tours in Iraq, earning a chest full of military hours
for his bravery in battle. His sacrifice and dedication to the United States of
America is unmatched by anything with the exception of his love for family.
Running a close second would be his knowledge of the tools he used to ply his
trade; it is with that background combined with his desire to tell the true story of the
impact of firearms on our nation’s history, that he set out to tell the story of
American Gun: A History of the U.S. in Ten
Firearms.
With the same pride that he brought to his craft as a sniper,
Kyle paints a in depth portrait detailing not only the history of the ten
weapons and their development, evolution and implementation, but the impact that
they had on this nations in varying points in our history and in many cases are
still having to this day.
I hesitate to say
that Kyle has a love of guns, because knucklehead gun controller types will try
to portray him as some sort of gun-loving nutcase, but the truth is Kyle
brought a healthy respect for and an incredible knowledge of these weapons
combined with a desire to teach others about the safe use of them. He doesn’t
glorify weapons, merely places them in their proper and impactful place in our
history. The information he imparts will make any who try to ignore or warp the
impact of firearms on history come off as laughable at best.
There is a “been there, fired that” quality to many of the
ten varying firearms detailed in the book. That experience brings a level of
trust to the statements Kyle makes about each of these weapons. He doesn’t
attempt to paint a glorified picture of each weapon, noting the negatives of
the weapons where appropriate as they went through the various stages of design
and development.
While guns certainly are the focal point and the perspective
from which this book is directed, it is much more than simply another book
about guns; it is as much a book for history buffs, placing each of the weapons
in their rightful place in our history.
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