SILK AND STEEL: WOMAN AT ARMS

Wilson, R.L.

ISBN 10: 0375507612 / ISBN 13: 9780375507618

Published by Random House, 2003

About this Item

320 pages. Hardcover with a dust jacket. SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR. Phenomenal. Hundreds of photographs and comprehensive text. The first comprehensive presentation on the subject of women and firearms, No object has had a greater impact on world history over the past 650 years than the firearm, and a surprising number of women have been keen on the subject: as shooters, hunters, collectors, engravers, and even gunmakers. From Queen Elizabeth I through her descendant Queen Elizabeth II, the numbers of aristocratic female arms enthusiasts, particularly shooters, have been impressive. Among those regal personages: Russia's Empresses Elizabeth and Catherine the Great, France's Marie Antoinette, and Great Britain's Duchess of Devonshire. In the New World, Thomas Jefferson's matched pair of Queen Anne-style flintlock pistols were made by London gunmaker Mary Dealtry. Pioneer American women took bold steps to defend home and heath, and their courage earned them the right to vote in Western states, where hardiness and self-reliance were taken for granted. As Jefferson himself admonished: "[The gun gives] boldness, enterprise, and independence to the mind." Many women were comfortable with firearms in early America and among the world's most famous women in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was Annie Oakley--"Little Sure Shot." Turning back the clock to the time of Joan of Arc, the author shows how women have played a vital role in armed conflicts. For many centuries, women went to war--sometimes in the guise of men--without their comrades knowing that they were present. Increasingly, in our own era, there are female fighter pilots and cadets at all of the U.S. service academies. Expanding on the long tradition, in the post-World War II period, millions of women and girls gravitated to sport shooting, including trap, skeet, and sporting clays, rifle and pistol target competitions, and the harvesting of game birds and even the dangerous big game of Africa. A fascinating book. Language: eng Language: eng Language: eng Language: eng Language: eng. Seller Inventory # 5183

Bibliographic Details

Title: SILK AND STEEL: WOMAN AT ARMS

Publisher: Random House

Publication Date: 2003

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: New

Dust Jacket Condition: New

Signed: Signed by Author

Edition: 1st Edition.

About this title

Synopsis:

Complemented by more than three hundred photographs, this unusual history chronicles the long relationship between women and firearms, offering portraits of female arms enthusiasts through the ages, the roles of women in the military, and women involved in shooting sports, from hunting to target shooting. 20,000 first printing.

About the Author:

R. L. Wilson has authored more than forty books and more than three hundred articles in a career that has spanned four decades. His dedication to the world of arms and armor began with a boyhood in Minnesota, followed by internships at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Armouries, H.M. Tower of London, and the Wadsworth Atheneum, where he was appointed curator of firearms at the age of twenty-three. <br> <br>He resides in San Francisco, but consultancies with private collectors and institutions, including the Autry Museum of Western Heritage, Cody Firearms Museum, the Royal Armouries Museum (Leeds), Tiffany & Co., the National Firearms Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, keep him traveling continually. <br><br>—About the Photographers—<br><br>Retrospectives of Peter Beard’s photography and art have been held in Milan, Paris, Berlin, New York, and Los Angeles. His work has appeared in<i> Vogue, Life, Esquire, Vanity Fair,</i> and numerous other journals. He is the author of <i>The End of the Game, Eyelids of Morning, Longing for Darkness, Portraits, </i>and <i>Zara’s Tales from Africa</i>. This is his sixth book with R. L. Wilson.<br><br>G. Allan Brown is a frequent contributor to publications on firearms and antiques. His work was showcased in <i>Colt: An American Legend, Winchester: An American Legend, The Peacemakers, Steel Canvas, Ruger & His Guns, The World of Beretta,</i> and both volumes of <i>The Colt Engraving Book. </i>