Americans have always loved guns. This special bond was forged during the American Revolution and sanctified by the Second Amendment. It is because of this exceptional relationship that American civilians are more heavily armed than the citizens of any other nation.Or so we're told.In The Gunning of America; historian Pamela Haag overturns this conventional wisdom. American gun culture; she argues; developed not because the gun was exceptional; but precisely because it was not: guns proliferated in America because throughout most of the nation's history; they were perceived as an unexceptional commodity; no different than buttons or typewriters.Focusing on the history of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company; one of the most iconic arms manufacturers in America; Haag challenges many basic assumptions of how and when America became a gun culture. Under the leadership of Oliver Winchester and his heirs; the company used aggressive; sometimes ingenious sales and marketing techniques to create new markets for their product. Guns have never "sold themselves"; rather; through advertising and innovative distribution campaigns; the gun industry did. Through the meticulous examination of gun industry archives; Haag challenges the myth of a primal bond between Americans and their firearms. Over the course of its 150 year history; the Winchester Repeating Arms Company sold over 8 million guns. But Oliver Winchester-a shirtmaker in his previous career-had no apparent qualms about a life spent arming America. His daughter-in-law Sarah Winchester was a different story. Legend holds that Sarah was haunted by what she considered a vast blood fortune; and became convinced that the ghosts of rifle victims were haunting her. She channeled much of her inheritance; and her conflicted conscience; into a monstrous estate now known as the Winchester Mystery House; where she sought refuge from this ever-expanding army of phantoms.In this provocative and deeply-researched work of narrative history; Haag fundamentally revises the history of arms in America; and in so doing explodes the clichés that have created and sustained our lethal gun culture.
#341876 in Books 2011-06-07 2011-06-07Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.25 x .75 x 5.50l; .65 #File Name: 0465022073288 pages
Review
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Good not greatBy JAKThis is an interesting tale.The "Baron" was an ethnic German from Estonia who was an officer in the Russian Army .With revolution and civil war he aligns with the Whites.He is a White officer in the Far East and with the collapse of the White cause he enters Mongolia and for a time ; more or less takes the place over. Unsurprisingly ; it doesn't go well.The Baron was to put it politely ; a nut.Sadistic;violent;anti-Semitic and all around immersed in fantasy.He really wasn't the last Khan of Mongolia.That subtitle is misleading.He was more it's military dictator ; briefly.One of the most interesting aspects of the book is ;it's take on Buddhism.The author clearly thinks those in the West have romanticized and aesthetized the religion.He points out that Westerners have a tendency to adopt a Buddhism that is atheistic and peaceful.He contrasts this to Mongolia in the early 20th Century.Mongolia was a deeply Buddhist country in the pre-Communist era and the Buddhism practiced was dramatically different from what most Westerners envision.Not remotely atheist;Mongolian Buddhism was a world of gods; spirits and demons.Further;they were to put it mildly ; not pacifistic.Lamas were sometimes drunks and pederasts.In other words Buddhism had not produced Shangri La. No surprise but a worth while point.19 of 21 people found the following review helpful. Fascinating and frighteningBy Hancock the SuperbBaron Roman Ungern Von Sternberg is one of those peripheral characters who always gets brought up in passing: he's too colorful to overlook; but arguably too minor to warrant extensive coverage. He was name-dropped in Robert Edgerton's Warriors of the Rising Sun; Peter Hopkirk's Setting the East Ablaze; David Mitchell's 1919: Red Mirage and Richard Luckett's The White Generals; to name just a few of the books I'd encountered him in. The Mad Baron was overdue for a full-length biography; and James Palmer brings him to vivid and grisly life.The Bloody Baron was a nobleman of German descent; who early on revealed a predilection for violence and sadism - and an interest in Eastern mysticism. He had a fairly successful military career; decorated for service in the Russo-Japanese War and World War I; and found himself on the White side of the Russian Civil War; fighting for the restoration of the Tsar. Already showing a penchant for violence; he was dispatched to Mongolia in the waning days of the conflict; converting to Buddhism; raising a rag-tag multi-national army and conquering Mongolia amidst much bloodshed. His disastrous administration and the encroachment of the Red Army only convinced Ungern to greater ambition - to try and recreate Genghis Khan's Mongol Empire and extirpate Jews and Bolsheviks.Palmer ably shows two salient points about Ungern: that he was very much a product of his time; and that he was a harbinger of things to come. As horrifying as Ungern's pogroms and atrocities were; in a sense; they were a logical (or illogical) extension of one of the cruellest wars in history. For all his appalling cruelty; Ungern was a piker compared to other leaders; Red and White; in more powerful positions. In fact; the Reds; in "liberating" Mongolia from Ungern; would commit far worse crimes than his short-lived regime. The primary appeal is not Ungern's atrocities; but his sheer weirdness: a demented Russian nobleman with a personal religion. He has few redeeming features as such; but remains a gruesomely compelling figure throughout.What made Ungern unique and dangerous; however; was his ideology: a curious blend of anti-Semitism; Nietzschean superman rhetoric; vaguely-defined occult mysticism and absurd megalomania; he was a clear precursor of the Nazis; who indeed venerated Urgern as a heroic precursor to Hitler. Palmer does make the point that Ungern had no deep understanding of Buddhism per se; but he had enough appeal to garner him thousands of devoted followers; and the love of a nation (apparently; he's still worshipped by some Mongolians). And just twenty years later; the world would be driven to the verge of destruction by a frighteningly similar ideology.Palmer does a fine job introducing the reader to Mongolia in general; and in particular a branch of Buddhism that endorses violence and mayhem. This is a fascinating topic; largely swept under the rug in the West; where Buddhism is seen as a benign force. Palmer shows this is an incredibly patronizing and limited view: Ungern's crimes were unique mostly for their being perpetrated by a European. He does a slightly-lesser job of depicting Tsarist and Revolutionary Russia; which is perhaps forgivable since it's not his area of expertise.As a writer; Palmer provides fine prose; with vivid descriptions of towns; set pieces and miitary campaigns. He has a fascinating subject matter and cuts through the veils of myth and distortion to make Urgern a credible (if still horrific) character. His biggest failing is his attempts at psychohistory; telling us to "imagine" certain key scenes in Ungern's life. That sort of "insight" should be saved for a novelist; or at least someone better-qualified than Palmer.Despite some flaws; The Bloody White Baron is a fascinating - and frightening - book. Monsters always make for fascinating history; and the Mad Baron provides a particularly interesting case of how vicious and depraved humans can be.4 of 5 people found the following review helpful. Thankfully; One of a KindBy Thomas M. SullivanHoly Cow; was this guy; uh; different! In addition to concluding that it probably would be best not to have the Baron as a house guest for fear he would organize the neighborhood children into a death squad; one has to marvel at the research that went into this fascinating look at the exotic and incredibly bloody conflicts that occurred on the Russian Revolution's "eastern front" and at the man who for a brief time was the prime mover in them. If I have one bone to pick with Author Palmer; it's his failure to include any photographs of the Baron while alluding to their existence with distressing frequency. As his attempted descriptions implicitly concede; words cannot do justice to the man's exotically forbidding appearance; yet we are deprived of the photographic evidence. Most frustrating. Having said that; the book is a terrific read about the type of man who comes along not once in a lifetime; but once in a millennium...if that. Thoroughly entertaining.
