This book was a solid, interesting read. My main complaint is that it occasionally became bogged in the minutia of patent disputes when I would have preferred to read more about the science of rifles. Also, a glossary for those of us who are unfamiliar with rifles would have been helpful. The book makes up for this, though, with descriptions of the rifle's effects on the turning-points in history. American Rifle is at its best when describing the roles of riflemen in the Revolutionary War or the effects of rifle-fire in the Spanish American War. Overall, a good book but not necessarily beach reading. ( )

Alexander Rose has written an engaging, accessible history of the rifle (and hence military) in America. Perfect for the average reader, as introduction to the broad sweep of firearms and the military in American culture. Rose did a good job on the historical narrative as overview rather than a techincal journal full of stats and jargon. ( )

Mr. Rose employs a very entertaining and informative writing style in order to illustrate the storied history of the American rifle. From the earliest iteration of the term in Europe to its on-going evolution in Iraq, the author displays the struggle between the values of accuracy at enormous distances vs. up close rapid fire. ( )

I am a bit of a gun enthusiast, and not much of a military nut... and I am a sucker for single item histories (I loved Mark Kurlansky's Salt: A History of the World and Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World). On those three criteria, American Rifle was already there for two out of three.

I should say that I am really only a bit of a gun enthusiast... I own a few, I like to go shooting, but I have virtually no knowledge of the history of guns. This book was a great primer for some gun history, at least in America. It was fascinating to see the transition between hand-held cannons that one dropped a lead ball into a lit a match to, and the modern, metal-cartridge, rifled-barreled, highly-accurate rifles of today. This book, not only, gave me that transition, but it also gave me the etymologies that I had never known of lots of words (cartridge, round...). The supplemental diagrams also gave a good visual to the evolution.

On the subject of military, I was a little disappointed to find that, to a certain extent, this book was less of a book about the history of the rifle in American, and more that it is a history of the United States Army's Ordnance Department. Sure, that department is the reason that we have the rifles that we have today, but, whenever people like Colt and Winchester left the Ordnance Department, they left the book. I guess I was expecting the book to be more about the rifle in both military and civilian life, and how it affected society and life and lore. Instead, it was a military-centric ride, and I felt myself wanting for more about how hunters have used it, innovations on the civilian side, innovations as pure target guns, and generally what the rifle means to the average person in America. Perhaps that book would have been too large.

As a single item history, it did fairly well, although, really, only if the book had been "The Ordnance Department: A Biography." On that front, though, it was quite fun to learn about the innovations that were made because of, and in spite of, the politics of the past 230+ years. I had never known some of the ins and outs and scandals of the Army and the rifle over the years and I found myself fascinated in each chapter.

It was a good read, and I recommend it to gun enthusiasts and military enthusiasts alike. I would recommend it to anyone that is interested in singe item histories, too. Perhaps, if it were called "The Ordnance Department," I might not have picked it up. That would have been too bad, though, because it was a pretty good read.

A quick note about the edition... I have an advance reading copy, and I am not sure if it will be the same format when on the bookstore shelves, but I did have a little trouble with the fact that the last quarter of the book was endnotes. While reading the book, it was too much of a hassle to look back to the end of the book to look up the note. It also disrupted the flow of reading. Once done with the book, it would have been even more of a hassle to read the endnotes and have to refer back to the text, remember what was being discussed, and then read through.

If there is that much good information, then I would like it in the body of the book... if those must be put in as notes, then I would much prefer a footnote to an endnote.

Enjoyed this lots! I wish there were more of this style of non-fiction book. The book takes a technology (in this case the Rifle) and creates a wonderful historical narrative illuminating it's associations and causes and affects enshrouded with the social, economic and cultural change of our world and country. Well done for anyone who has any interest in history and/or technology. Easily one my favorite non-fiction books on the subject of technological change. Extremely well written/readable and researched. ( )