| Mr. Gatling's Terrible Marvel: The Gun That Changed Everything and the Misunderstood Genius Who Invented It Contributor(s): Keller, Julia (Author) |
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ISBN: 0143115642 ISBN-13: 9780143115649 Publisher: Penguin Adult Hc/Tr OUR PRICE: $22.80 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: May 2009 Annotation: Pulitzer Prize-winner Keller offers a riveting account of the Gatling gun's invention, its misunderstood creator, and its tremendous impact on American and world events. 8-page b&w photo insert. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Biography & Autobiography | Science & Technology - History | Military - Weapons - History | United States - 19th Century |
| Dewey: B |
| Physical Information: 0.72" H x 5.44" W x 8.4" (0.58 lbs) 320 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 19th Century |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: A provocative look at the life and times of the man who created the original weapon of mass destruction Drawing on her investigative and literary talents, Julia Keller offers a riveting account of the invention of the world's first working machine gun. Through her portrait of its misunderstood creator, Richard Jordan Gatling-who naively hoped that the overwhelming effectiveness of a multiple-firing weapon would save lives by decreasing the size of armies and reducing the number of soldiers needed to fight-Keller draws profound parallels to the scientists who would unleash America's atomic arsenal half a century later. The Gatling gun, in its combination of ingenuity, idealism, and destructive power, perfectly exemplifies the paradox of America's rise in the nineteenth century to a world superpower. |