Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1738978 in Books
• Published on: 2002-03-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 624 pages

Synopsis
Michael A. Bellesiles's Arming America is a stunning and seminal book that challenges everything Americans have previously been taught about their history with guns. Painstaking in his examination of the historical record, Bellesiles shatters the myth of America's gun-toting forefathers. Most early settlers were indifferent or hostile towards guns, which until the middle of the nineteenth century were scarce and unreliable. Even members of the militia were drastically short of firearms. Not until the Civil War did a gun culture take hold on America, and it did so for reasons which were far from patriotic or noble. Timely, provocative and overwhelmingly thorough, this book is a singular historical work destined to have profound ramifications in the current debate over guns.

Customer Reviews

Controversial background
I'm attempting to highlight information regarding this book rather than review it. After receiveing many positive reviews and the Bancroft prize, this book was the centre of a debate regarding the professional conduct and ethics of historians.
No doubt fuelled by contemporary debate on U.S. gun laws, there are solid foundations on which to question elements of the study. Rather than praise or snub the book, i'd suggest that anybody interested in the subject also look into the debates surround the book's release. Especially if you plan to use it in a dissertation as another reviewer on this site saw fit.

Thorough, Well Written - An authorative work...
An excellent book which is well researched and very thorough. I would recommend this book for someone who has a serious interest in the subject of American gun culture, as it is certainly not light reading. However, every aspect of gun culture is explained - it traces right through from the development of guns throughout the ages in other continents to how they found their place in American culture from civil war times to the modern day. This book makes no swooping judgments or condemnations, and so i feel it is relativley unbiased. I used it for my degree dissertation which was about gun culture in hollywood movies - it was an excellent historical reference. The book is easy to read and enjoyable - but there's a lot of it to get through!