The Social History Of The Machine Gun

Download or read book The Social History of the Machine Gun written by John Ellis and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 1986-08 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It necessitated a technological response: first the armored tank, then the jet fighter, and, perhaps ultimately, the hydrogen bomb.

Download or read book Machine Guns written by James H. Willbanks and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2004-11-23 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The machine gun—often called the killing machine—revolutionized modern ground combat, brought an end to the traditional infantry and cavalry charge, and changed the battlefields of war forever. This volume in the Weapons and Warfare series describes the history of machine guns from the mid-19th century to the present, following both the evolution of small arms technology and the impact of machine guns on the battlefield, on military strategy, and on human society. This book discusses subjects ranging from the forerunners of mechanical and automatic guns, to the unusual history of the Civil War-era Gatling gun (the first practical machine gun, not used by the Union army because Gatling was a Southerner), to the machine guns developed for the world wars and those for present day use. Readers will see how the advent of the machine gun revolutionized ground combat—and how in some instances, technology outran tactics and doctrines, with disastrous consequences.

Download or read book Lessons Learned From The Use Of The Machine Gun During The Russo-Japanese War written by LCDR Daniel J. Kenda and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2014-08-15 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dr. Richard Gatling invented the world’s first practical machine gun in 1862. Between that weapon and subsequent improved designs, the world’s armies had roughly 50 years to adopt the machine gun and perfect its employment before it helped wreak the carnage of World War I. However, for some reason or combination of reasons, none of the armies of the day saw fit to do so. This thesis explores the potential explanations behind this phenomenon by using the Russo-Japanese War as a case study. The Russo-Japanese War should have demonstrated to the world how the machine gun fundamentally altered the conduct of land warfare, especially since the major world powers all sent military observers to report on the war’s events. This thesis will show, however, that because of a complex combination of the prevalent military tactical culture, bureaucratic pragmatism and logistical concerns, the five major protagonist armies of World War I generally failed to apply the lessons they learned about machine-gun employment from the Russo-Japanese War and as a result were completely surprised by the weapon’s impact on the battlefield ten years later.

Download or read book The Vickers-Maxim Machine Gun written by Martin Pegler and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2013-05-20 with total page 82 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The world's first self-powered machine gun, the Maxim gun became a potent symbol of Victorian colonialism in the closing years of the 19th century. It was the brainchild of Sir Hiram Maxim, the American-born firearms inventor who founded the company bearing his name with financing from Albert Vickers, who became the company's chairman; Maxim's company was absorbed by Vickers, Sons and Company in 1897. Subsequent variants in British, German and Russian service – the .303in Vickers (1912), 7.92mm MG 08 (1908) and 7.62mm PM M1910, respectively – dominated both the Eastern and Western Fronts during World War I and soldiered on into World War II, while the Vickers remained in front-line British service essentially unchanged until 1968. Featuring specially commissioned full-colour artwork and written by a noted authority, this is the engaging story of the Maxim and its descendants, the innovative rapid-fire weapons that saw combat with British, German, Russian and other forces in the late Victorian era and throughout the world wars.

Download or read book The Social Compulsions of Ideas written by Gerard L. De Gré and published by Transaction Publishers. This book was released on with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume collects Gerard DeGr's writings, spanning four decades of activity. From his thesis on the theory of semiotics in Sorokin and Spengler to his later writings drawing a sharp distinction between the sociology of knowledge and sociological theories of knowledge, DeGr remains sensitive to the place of language in knowledge formation.

Download or read book Gun Culture or Gun Control? written by Peter Squires and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: n 1996 the shooting and killing of 16 young children in a Dunblane primary school provoked wide reaching parliamentary reform to British gun laws. Within months virtually all privately owned handguns had been outlawed. Gun Culture or Gun Control? presents the first substantial analysis of the social and political reactions to events in Dunblane and also examines many of the wider issues relating to gun control in the United Kingdom. Rigorously comparative throughout, Peter Squires provides a non-partisan exploration of the differences between attitudes to firearms and their control in Britain and in the United States. Amongst the topics the author considers are: * the social history of firearms on both sides of the atlantic * the differing policy directions adopted in Britain and the USA * media coverage of the gun question * firearms and policing * the future of the gun in society.

Download or read book Bring Me My Machine Gun written by Alec Russell and published by PublicAffairs. This book was released on 2009-04-14 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Award-winning journalist Alec Russell was in South Africa to witness the fall of apartheid and the remarkable reconciliation of Nelson Mandela's rule; and returned in 2007-2008 to see Mandela's successor, Thabo Mbeki, fritter away the country's reputation. South Africa is now perched on a precipice, as it prepares to elect Jacob Zuma as president -- signaling a potential slide back to the bad old days of post-colonial African leadership, and disaster for a country that was once the beacon of the continent. Drawing on his long relationships with all the key senior figures including Mandela, Mbeki, Desmond Tutu, and Zuma, and a host of South Africans he has known over the years -- including former activists turned billionaires and reactionary Boers -- Alec Russell's Bring Me My Machine Gun is a beautifully told and expertly researched account of South Africa's great tragedy: the tragedy of hope unfulfilled.