The first major biography of "the Thomas Edison of guns," John Moses
Browning, a visionary inventor who designed the modern handgun and whose
astonishing array of firearms armed American troops since before World
War I, proved decisive in World War II, and became integral to American
culture.
Few people are aware that John Moses Browning--a
tall, modest man born in 1855 and raised as a Mormon in the American
West-- invented the mechanism used in virtually all modern pistols,
created the most popular hunting rifles and shotguns, and conceived the
machine guns introduced in World War I and which dominated air and land
battles in World War II. Yet few in America knew his name until he was
into his sixties.
Now, author Nathan Gorenstein brings firearms
inventor John Moses Browning to vivid life in this riveting and
revealing biography. Embodying the tradition of self-made, self-educated
geniuses (like Lincoln and Edison), Browning was able to think in three
dimensions (he never used blueprints) and his gifted mind produced
everything from the famous Winchester "30-30" hunting rifle to the
awesomely effective machine guns used by every American aircraft and
infantry unit in World War II. The British credited Browning's guns with
helping to win the Battle of Britain.
His inventions illustrate both the good and bad of weapons.
Sweeping,
lively, and brilliantly told, this fascinating book introduces a
little-known American legend whose impact on history ranks with that of
the Wright Brothers, Thomas Edison, and Henry Ford.
