Mr. Gatling's Terrible Marvel: The Gun That Changed Everything and the Misunderstood Genius Who Invented It - Hardcover

Keller, Julia

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670018945 ISBN 13: 9780670018949

Publisher: Viking Pr, 2008

Synopsis

Documents the machine gun's role in history with a chronicle of how it was used as a key weapon in protecting America's interests overseas, in an account that also profiles the contributions of its inventor, who developed the machine gun in the hopes of reducing military headcount and casualties. 30,000 first printing.

About this title

Review:

"With a rat-a-tat pace and a wicked sense of humor, Julia Keller uses the story of Gatling's famous machine-gun to take us on an exuberant and entertaining tour through American capitalism in the nineteenth-century. This book is a carnival for history buffs - bursting with colorful characters, uncanny connections, and contagious enthusiasm."
-Debby Applegate, winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for "The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher"
"Julia Keller has not only given us the fascinating story of the Gatling gun and its colorful inventor, but has also placed it into a valid and original context. She takes us into the middle of nineteenth century America as it really was: a westward-looking continent packed with dreams, energy, and ambitious practical ideas, a place where mechanical inventions created a vision of limitless power that shaped much of the nation's philosophy and destiny. This is the story of the artifact as changing history, the early machine gun as bringing about as great a transformation as the simple stirrup did in its era. If you haven't heard of Julia Keller, you'll hear of her now."
-Charles Bracelen Flood, author of "Grant and Sherman: The Friendship that Won the Civil War" and past president of PEN American Center.

aWith a rat-a-tat pace and a wicked sense of humor, Julia Keller uses the story of Gatlingas famous machine-gun to take us on an exuberant and entertaining tour through American capitalism in the nineteenth-century. This book is a carnival for history buffs a bursting with colorful characters, uncanny connections, and contagious enthusiasm.a
aDebby Applegate, winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for "The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher"
aJulia Keller has not only given us the fascinating story of the Gatling gun and its colorful inventor, but has also placed it into a valid and original context. She takes us into the middle of nineteenth century America as it really was: a westward-looking continent packed with dreams, energy, and ambitious practical ideas, a place where mechanical inventions created a vision of limitless power that shaped much of the nation's philosophy and destiny. This is the story of the artifact as changing history, the early machine gun as bringing about as great a transformation as the simple stirrup did in its era. If you haven't heard of Julia Keller, you'll hear of her now.a
aCharles Bracelen Flood, author of "Grant and Sherman: The Friendship that Won the Civil War" and past president of PEN American Center.

a A lively and well-informed biographical study . . . Kelleras great gift, along with sprightly prose . . . is contextualization.a
a"Chicago Tribune

" A lively and well-informed biographical study . . . Keller's great gift, along with sprightly prose . . . is contextualization."
-Chicago Tribune

Synopsis:

Documents the machine gun's role as a key weapon in protecting America's interests overseas, in an account that also profiles the contributions of its inventor, who developed the machine gun in the hopes of reducing military headcount and casualties.

About this edition

• Publisher: Viking Pr
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0670018945
• ISBN 13: 9780670018949
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 294