Synopses & Reviews
Review
andldquo;A good deal more than a nicely illustrated book about guns in American history, A Legacy in Arms perceptively integrates the technical and aesthetic dimensions of the subject and offers a compelling synthesis that will be of great interest to general readers, devoted collectors, and serious scholars.andrdquo;andmdash;Merritt Roe Smith, author of Harpers Ferry Armory and the New Technology: The Challenge of Change
Synopsis
The history of American firearms is inseparable from the history of the United States, for firearms have played crucial roles in the nationandrsquo;s founding, westward expansion, and industrial, economic, and cultural development. This history unfolds in compelling words and images in A Legacy in Arms, a volume that draws upon the collections of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City to trace the business and art of gun making from the early national period to the turn of the twentieth century.
About the Author
Richard C. Rattenbury earned a B.A. degree in history from Texas Christian University and an M.A. in museum studies from Texas Tech University. Rattenbury formerly held curatorial positions with the Winchester Museum at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, Wyoming, and with the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, Canyon, Texas. He has served as curator of history at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum since 1987 and is the author of Hunting the American West, The Art of American Arms Makers, and Packing Iron: Gunleather of the Frontier West. Richard resides with his wife, Suzette, in Edmond, Oklahoma.R. L. Wilson is a freelance consultant in the fields of Americana, firearms, and engraving and the author of more than 50 books, including benchmark works on Colt and Winchester.
Ed Muno is former Curator of Art at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum and an object photographer of wide repute.