Bellesiles, in a meticulous study, traces "gun fever" to its European origins, documents the rarity of firearms in early America, covers technological advances, and details the strange series of developments during the Civil War that helped make the gun an integral and deadly fixture in modern American life.
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Bellesiles, in a meticulous study, traces "gun fever" to its European origins, documents the rarity of firearms in early America, covers technological advances, and details the strange series of developments during the Civil War that helped make the gun an integral and deadly fixture in modern American life.
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Seller's Description:
Very Good. Very Good condition. Very Good dust jacket. A copy that may have a few cosmetic defects. May also contain light spine creasing or a few markings such as an owner's name, short gifter's inscription or light stamp.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Good. Good condition. Very Good dust jacket. A copy that has been read but remains intact. May contain markings such as bookplates, stamps, limited notes and highlighting, or a few light stains.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good in very good dust jacket. Stated first edition, text and pages unmarked, binding tight, dust jacket has slight rubbing on edges, corners, and at spine, inscription to prior owner inside front cover.
It's worth noting that although this book was awarded Columbia University's Bancroft Prize in 2001, you won't find it listed among the winners (http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/eguides/amerihist/bancroftlist.html), because Bellesiles falsified (misrepresented, cherry-picked and in some cases fabricated) his data.
The award was rescinded for scholarly misconduct (see, e.g,. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bancroft_Prize). Bellesiles was also forced to resign from his position at Emory for the same reason.
Laurence
Dec 16, 2007
More than a controversy
Illuminated by the approbation of the Bancroft prize Michael Bellesiles? Arming America tramples America?s myth of the armed frontiersman. It slashes away at the humbug of the perennial armed pioneer, replacing it with the pastoral farmer whose grasp on his disintegrating musket slips as wood rot destroys the stock and rust corrodes the barrel. He, consequently, appears empty handed at militia musters, accordingly carouses at these yearly encounters and makes a travesty of the armed militiamen who saved America from British peril. Alas, the resulting controversy turned from approbation to opprobrium when, like Iraq?s mysterious weapons of mass destruction, archive sources failed to corroborate the meager number of firearms found in probate records. Despite substantial evidence of poor militia performance, the consequent superiority of regular troops and the significant expense of hand made weapons weak presentation of court records toppled an otherwise considerable argument. In this case the smell of oil did not support the naysayers. It was the cry for academic integrity. Despite such criticism the book is a whacking good read that illustrates the deficiencies of scholarly minutia over a superior general argument.
