The firearm provided food for the cooking pot and protection
against animal and human marauders. It was also a major trade
item with American Indians and was carried by soldiers of the
many armies who fought over the New World.
It is no coincidence that guns are intertwined with American
history: the development and mass production of firearms
parallels the history of European involvement in the Americas.
Yet despite its long and important service, an accurate
portrayal of the role of firearms in American history remains
obscured by reoccurring inaccuracies and tall tales at the
popular level.
Firearms in American History describes firearms development
and use in America from colonization in the 1500s to the end of
the 1800s in the hands of the military, American Indians, and
civilians. Supported by more than 250 illustrations, the book will
inform and entertain the general reader.