Review: American Gun, A History Of The U.S. in Ten Firearms, by Chris Kyle with William Doyle

As I’m sure you know, Chris Kyle was an American hero of the highest order.

Recounted in his earlier book, American Sniper, Kyle served four tours in Iraq with the U.S. Navy SEALs. Highly decorated, he became known as The Legend and was the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history. Kyle was murdered earlier this year, but not before finishing most of the work on his second book, American Gun. Completed by his wife Taya, this book was released on June 4th and comes as a pleasant surprise.

American Gun is an easy and enjoyable read. It’s written conversationally and feels as though Kyle is sitting down with you, having a beer and telling stories. Kyle takes us through events in American history where ten guns he has identified played an important role and influenced American history.

Kyle’s list of guns are: The American long rifle, the Spencer repeater, the Colt Single Action Army, the Winchester 73, the 1903 Springfield, the 1911 pistol, Thompson submachine gun, M-1 Garand, the .38 Special revolver and the M16 rifle.

The development and history of each is explained and several examples of their use in shaping American history are given. Although you may not agree with Kyle’s list, whether an experienced shooter or one of the gun owners who have joined our ranks in recent years, you’re going to learn something and enjoy reading about each of these guns.

As Kyle says in the introduction: “More than any other nation in history, the United States has been shaped by the gun.” After reading American Gun I think you will come to the same conclusion.

Reference Links:
American Gun

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow (June 4, 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062242717

About the Author:

Ed Head is a regular on Shooting Gallery and Down Range TV. He has worked for almost 30 years in law enforcement, first in the United States Air Force and then with the United States Border Patrol, retiring as a Field Operations Supervisor. During his Border Patrol career, Ed worked in a variety of patrol, investigative and training capacities. Ed has an extensive background as a firearms instructor, having trained thousands, ranging from beginners to police, military and special operations personnel. Having taught at Gunsite for 20 years, Ed first trained there under the world famous shooting school’s founder, Jeff Cooper, then later ran the school as the operations manager for more than five years. Ed lives in Chino Valley, Arizona, where he continues to teach and write.