The Machine Gun: The Story of the Men and the Weapon That Changed the Face of War - Couverture rigide

Smith, Anthony

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0749923520 ISBN 13 : 9780749923525

Editeur : Piatkus Books, 2002

Synopsis

A fascinating history of the men who invented the machine gun - and the devastating impact it had on the course of war Why did the British start the First World War with only 264 machine guns, far fewer than the other great powers? Why were the generals so disdainful of them, despite the way the Maxim gun had decimated native armies in numerous colonial wars? In the First War, the British had to learn the hard way, with 20,000 men mown down by machine guns on the first day of the battle of the Somme. Around 80 percent of all the casualties in that war were caused by machine guns. Anthony Smith explores this extraordinary paradox in his important new book; he also tells the story of the remarkable men who invented and developed the machine gun - men like Samuel Colt, Richard Gatling and Hiram Maxim. Gatling's gun was first used in the American Civil War; but it was Maxim, with his barnstorming salesmanship to all the leading military powers, who did most to create a deadly new form of warfare. Filled with fresh insights and vivid eye-witness accounts, Machine Gun is history at its most readable and provocative.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Piatkus Books
• Date d'édition: 2002
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0749923520
• ISBN 13: 9780749923525
• Reliure: Relié
• Numéro d'édition: 1
• Nombre de pages: 320
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible