Machine Gun : The Story of the Men and the Weapon That Changed the Face of War

by Anthony Smith

• ISBN13: 9780312320669
• ISBN10: 0312320663
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2003-10-19
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Summary

The machine gun is a uniquely American invention that, more than any other single invention, revolutionized the way in which war was waged.Machine Guntells the story of the people responsible for the development of the weapon itself - beginning with Samuel Colt's creation of the first mass-produced, rapid-firing revolver; to Dr. Richard Gatling and his Gatling Gun; and Hiram Maxim, whose Maxim Gun was the first truly automatic weapon. In this engrossing history, Smith traces the uses of the rapid-fire gun and its slow integration into the weaponry of military forces around the world. First used primarily to 'pacify' native populations, the machine gun was not fully integrated into military tactics until after the unprecedented casualties of World War I and the resultant social upheaval that utterly changed the very nature of tactical warfare.Machine Gunis an enthralling account of the people who invented and promoted the weapon, how it affected the very nature of warfare, and of the society out of which it arose - and which it in turn transformed inexorably.

Author Biography

Anthony Smith is the author of many books and has hosted a number of programs on television, mostly on the BBC, and on the radio. He lives in England.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	vi
Foreword: Death of an Inventor	vii
1 A Doctor's Contribution	1	(17)
2 Alchemist, Minister, and Seaman	18	(12)
3 From Whittling to Peacemaking	30	(20)
4 Making Hay and a Broken Spring	50	(6)
5 Guns and Gun Men Multiply	56	(21)
6 Chronic Invention and Hatton Garden	77	(14)
7 One More 'Yankee' Beats All Creation	91	(17)
8 'I Never Dreamed Such Things Could Be'	108	(27)
9 Fire Without Smoke	135	(15)
10 Lessons Learned and Unlearned	150	(17)
11 The Bonds of Attachment	167	(19)
12 Dash, Bravado, and Death	186	(17)
13 Known Unto God	203	(24)
14 The Omnipresent Chatter	227	(16)
15 From Lewis to Browning	243	(26)
16 Civilian Death and Pips Squeaking	269	(13)
17 Whatever Happens They Have Now All Got	282	(14)
Epilogue	296	(3)
Bibliography	299	(2)
Index	301