Publisher: William
Morrow
Publication Date: June 4, 2013
Publication Date: June 4, 2013
Review: Chris Kyle, author of his bestselling memoir American Sniper, was no
stranger to guns. As a Navy SEAL, he had a record confirmed 160 kills. Beyond
his expert marksmanship, Kyle possessed the unique ability to be a great
storyteller. At the time of his tragic death in February 2013, he was working
on a new project, American Gun.
In the book, Kyle chronicles American history,
beginning during the revolutionary war. Each section details this history using
a different firearm as the main focus. Having shot each of the weapons featured
in the book, Kyle not only speaks of the physical aspects of the guns, but also
provides a wealth of historical context that surrounds them. Rather than write
about each gun in a textbook fashion, which Kyle himself admits would be incredibly
boring, he zeroes in on the human side of the story, placing the reader in the
place of the men who used the weapons.
There are a few moments of historical
speculation, particularly in the section about Lincoln's push to get the
multi-shot Spencer Repeater rifle into the hands of his Union soldiers. Lincoln
was met with resistance from military leaders who saw the new technology as
gimmicky. Kyle argues that, had the Union used the new weapons sooner, the
Civil War would have ended sooner, and more American lives could have been
spared. Despite this speculation, Kyle acknowledges the facts and seems to
respect the history as it occurred.
In the past year, firearms have become a hotly
politicized topic. I was a bit worried that, as a man who spent a great deal of
time with weapons, Kyle would turn this book into a kind of propaganda tool.
Fortunately, Kyle never seems to be preachy or pushing an ideology upon the
reader. Instead, he writes with a passionate respect for both guns and the
history surrounding them. Perhaps his words sum it up the best. "You can
get a little fancy talking about guns. . . That's not fair. Real life has been
messy, bloody, complicated. . . But the past can show us the way to the future.
It can give us hope. . ." (pg. 261-262)
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