Other than Native American warriors, who are fairly well represented here, no other soldier on earth has ever been expected to bear as much individual responsibility for the conduct of battle than the American soldier. The primary tool of the soldier is the rifle, and what rifle that soldier carries has decided the outcome of the majority of our engagements from colonial days to Afghanistan. Rose has hit upon this fact to produce a book that works on many levels. It is far more than a gun book. It is a window into American history.

My only reservation: Rose slows down to offer insight, story, character and politics in some places ( very succesfully), and fairly flies across the surface in others- American Rifle, at its weak points, is like the old timer's saying about the Powder River, a mile wide and an inch deep. But overall, it is a strong, revealing and entertaining history.

Hal Herring

author of:
Famous Firearms of the Old West: From Wild Bill Hickok's Colt Revolvers to Geronimo's Winchester, Twelve Guns That Shaped Our History