Mr. Gatling's terrible marvel
Subtitle: the gun that changed everything and the misunderstood genius who invented it
By: Julia Keller
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2009
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 294
ISBN-13: 9780143115649
Subjects: Gatling guns; Biography; Inventors
Description: From publisher description: Although little used during the American Civil War--the time in which it was invented--the Gatling gun soon changed the nature of warfare and the course of history. Discharging 200 shots per minute with alarming accuracy, the world's first machine gun became vitally important to protecting and expanding America's overseas interests. Its inventor, Richard Gatling, was famous in his own time for creating and improving many industrial designs, from bicycles and steamship propellers to flush toilets. Gatling actually proposed his gun as a way of saving lives, thinking it would decrease the size of armies. Cultural critic Julia Keller's account of the invention, its misunderstood creator, and its tremendous impact on world events also shows how its combination of ingenuity, idealism, and destructive power, perfectly exemplified the paradox of America's rise as a world superpower.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [271]-283) and index.
Table of contents: title: Cold beauty --; title: A world of mornings --; title: Land of the second chance --; title: "Drunkards, dandies & loafers" --; title: The spaces between the bullets --; title: "A little Gatling music" --; title: "The world's great storm" --; title: Warriors and sages.