A captivating and wonderfully illustrated chronicle of one of the most influential and legendary names in gunsmithing history. John M. Browning was born in Ogden, Utah, in 1855, into a world of gunsmithing. His father was a gunsmith who was already well known for a number of innovations in the field. As a young boy, John spent hours in his father's shop and allegedly knew the name of every part of a gun before he could read. It's hardly surprising that at age twenty-three, he was filing his first patent for the "J. M. Browning Single-Shot Rifle." Browning inherited his father’s gun making shop, and with funds of less than a thousand dollars, developed it into a highly successful business that developed several iconic firearms including the Colt Peacemaker. Browning also cooperated with Winchester to develop a whole range of small arms including semi-automatic pistols, single-shot rifles, repeater rifles, and machine guns. His enthusiasm and creativity have led many to believe he is the greatest firearm designer of all time. This fascinating book describes the Browning history, and in addition to covering the full range of inventions and designs, also shows various gun-making artifacts, copies of designers' drawings, and interesting photographs of the weapons in the hands of users. The History of Browning Firearms makes a perfect addition to the libraries of Wild West buffs and firearms enthusiasts.
A captivating and wonderfully illustrated chronicle of one of the most influential and legendary names in gunsmithing history. John M. Browning was born in Ogden, Utah, in 1855, into a world of gunsmithing. His father was a gunsmith who was already well known for a number of innovations in the field. As a young boy, John spent hours in his father's shop and allegedly knew the name of every part of a gun before he could read. It's hardly surprising that at age twenty-three, he was filing his first patent for the "J. M. Browning Single-Shot Rifle." Browning inherited his father’s gun making shop, and with funds of less than a thousand dollars, developed it into a highly successful business that developed several iconic firearms including the Colt Peacemaker. Browning also cooperated with Winchester to develop a whole range of small arms including semi-automatic pistols, single-shot rifles, repeater rifles, and machine guns. His enthusiasm and creativity have led many to believe he is the greatest firearm designer of all time. This fascinating book describes the Browning history, and in addition to covering the full range of inventions and designs, also shows various gun-making artifacts, copies of designers' drawings, and interesting photographs of the weapons in the hands of users. The History of Browning Firearms makes a perfect addition to the libraries of Wild West buffs and firearms enthusiasts.
Away from the game and the players for which it was crafted, the baseball bat is a sleek but humble creation. Yet in the hands of batters both young and old who have been stepping to the plate on diamonds around the world for more than a century, the bat is a powerful tool, capable of yielding lasting memories or making legends of a lifetime. And no bat has had more impact on baseball and the players of the game than Louisville Slugger, the tool of the trade used by millions-from the major leagues to college and youth leagues. In accordance with Louisville Slugger's 125th anniversary, the complete history of the bat, its impact on the game, and the ongoing story of Hillerich and Bradsby's family business is told in these pages. Blending firsthand stories from former and current major leaguers with details from more than 100 years of craftsmanship and contribution, this comprehensive history of baseball's bat and its impact on America's game is a must-have and must-read for anyone who has ever stood at the plate waiting on a pitch-or watched as a fan-hoping for a miracle.
A historical novel of prejudice and plague, The Scourges of Heaven sweeps gracefully, joyfully, painfully across centuries and generations. Through Cynthia Anne Ferguson, orphaned aboard a vessel carrying immigrants, hopes, dreams, and cholera from the Old World to the New, David Dick paints a world where the causes of disease are little understood, where faith is not always a comfort, where human questioning often goes unanswered, and where unexpected death is frequently attributed to the wrath of an angry God. Cynthia's story unfolds in the midst of the first of four great cholera epidemics to sweep America in the mid-nineteenth century, and her journey through life, from New Orleans up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers and across the Bluegrass to Lexington, parallels the track followed by the deadly scourge. More powerfully told than any factual, statistical, or scientific account could ever manage, yet based upon historical events, this tale of disease, ignorance, and narrow-mindedness is supported by a central theme of hope that ultimately brings redemption.
England on Edge deals with the collapse of the government of Charles I, the disintegration of the Church of England, and the accompanying cultural panic that led to civil war. Focused on the years 1640 to 1642, it examines stresses and fractures in social, political, and religious culture, and the emergence of an unrestrained popular press. Hundreds of people not normally seen in historical surveys make appearances here, in a drama much larger than the struggle of king and parliament. Historians commonly assert that royalists and parliamentarians parted company over issues of principle, constitutional scruples, and religious belief, but a more complex picture emerges from the environment of anxiety, mistrust, and fear. Rather than seeing England's revolutionary transformation as a product of the civil war, as has been common among historians, David Cressy finds the world turned upside down in the two years preceding the outbreak of hostilities. The humbling of Charles I, the erosion of the royal prerogative, and the rise of an executive parliament were central features of the revolutionary drama of 1640-1642. The collapse of the Laudian ascendancy, the splintering of the established church, the rise of radical sectarianism, and the emergence of an Anglican resistance all took place in these two years before the beginnings of bloodshed. The world of public discourse became rapidly energized and expanded, in counterpoint with an exuberantly unfettered press and a deeply traumatized state. These linked processes, and the disruptive contradictions within them, made this a time of shaking and of prayer. England's elite encountered multiple transgressions, some more imagined than real, involving lay encroachments on the domain of the clergy, lowly intrusions into matters of state, the city clashing with the court, the street with institutions of government, and women undermining the territories of men. The simultaneity, concatenation, and cumulative, compounding effect of these disturbances added to their ferocious intensity, and helped to bring down England's ancien regime. This was the revolution before the Revolution, the revolution that led to civil war.
“A Superb New Biography . . . A Tragic Story, Brilliantly Told.” —Andrew Roberts, Literary Review George Nathaniel Curzon’s controversial life in public service stretched from the high noon of his country’s empire to the traumatized years following World War I. As viceroy of India under Queen Victoria and foreign secretary under King George V, the obsessive Lord Curzon left his unmistakable mark on the era. David Gilmour’s award-winning book—with a new foreword by the author—is a brilliant assessment of Curzon’s character and achievements, offering a richly dramatic account of the infamous long vendettas, the turbulent friendships, and the passionate, risky love affairs that complicated and enriched his life. Born into the ruling class of what was then the world’s greatest power, Curzon was a fervent believer in British imperialism who spent his life proving he was fit for the task. Often seen as arrogant and tempestuous, he was loathed as much as he was adored, his work disparaged as much as it was admired. In Gilmour’s well-rounded appraisal, Curzon emerges as a complex, tragic figure, a gifted leader who saw his imperial world overshadowed at the dawn of democracy.
David Benton Sears could be considered the father of Moline, Illinois. It was upon his land that Moline was platted in 1843. It was because of his brush dam on the Mississippi River between the Moline shore and Rock Island--known today as Arsenal Island--that significant industry began to develop. Grain and lumber mills were the first, but farm implement and related factories soon found prominence after John Deere moved his plow-making business here in 1848. It would not be long before immigrants, particularly the Swedish, Belgian, and German, were drawn to Moline for the jobs and opportunities and added to the growing and prosperous population. Legendary Locals of Moline tells the known and not-so-well-known stories of many of the early and the more-recent individuals who have contributed to the fabric of the community, both locally and nationally. Historical and current photographs illustrate those who affected business and industry, culture, academia, public service, organizations and philanthropies, and sports and entertainment.
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