Guns Books

I have read all of Donna Ball's books and have loved all of them!! It is a different kind of mystery. It helps to have dogs in it because I love dogs. But, I always am happy to see Donna has written another book!
Please, try one.
Ms. Ball............ More Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got this book looking for something since Virginia Lanier (author of the fabulous Bloodhound series) has passed away. Ball is a good writer. The developmet of the main character is not as dark... pverall the book is an easy read and not quite as compelling as Lanier ....but the tracking dog sequences are good.

This is the 3rd Raine Stockton Dog Mystery I've read and it was very enjoyable. In this book, Raine is asked to go to a cabin where a frantic and starving yellow lab is guarding his mistress who lays dead of an apparent suicide from a self inflicted gunshot wound. Raine's uncle, who is the sheriff, knows that she can remove the poor dog so the deputies don't have to shoot it.

There is no identification on the woman at the scene of the suicide, or even a vehicle parked near the remote cabin, so there are many questions about the dead woman that must be answered and the answers are not easy to find. The sheriff has doubts that the suicide is real and says that the suicide scene looks staged, to make it look like a murder.

The clues and the yellow lab provide key information that leads Raine, her uncle, the sherrif, and her on again off again husband, Buck, to unravel a twisted tale of jealousy, greed, and revenge.

Raine's personal life with Buck, also takes an interesting twist in this book, and the only complaint I have is that this plot twist was unexpected and somewhat rushed and forced. I hope we continue to see more of Buck in the forthcoming volumes, since the dynamics between him and Raine have provided tension and plot development in all three books

This is an enjoyable mystery series for dog lovers. The author, Donna Ball, according to her web site, has lots of experience with dogs, canine search and rescue, canine freestyle (a form of human/dog dancing), and canine agility and it shows in her writing.

.

A frantic and starving yellow lab guards the cabin where his mistress lays dead of an apparent self inflected gunshot wound. The sheriff places a call to his niece, Raine Stockton, the only professional dog handler in the area. Raine must remove the snarling dog to prevent the deputies from shooting it.

There is no identification at the scene of the suicide, not even a vehicle parked near the remote cabin. How did the woman and her dog get there? Where is her purse, ID, luggage, food? Was the scene staged to look like a suicide? Was it in fact a murder?

The first clues come from the traumatized dog. Then random events provide key information that unravels a tale of jealousy, greed, and revenge.

An enjoyable mystery for dog lovers. The author includes many of her favorite subjects; canine search and rescue, canine freestyle (a form of human/dog dancing), and canine agility. The only complaint I find with the book is not the fault of the author but rather the publisher. The book's cover illustration gives away information the reader shouldn't know until half way through the story.

I have read the other two Donna Ball stories. This one was really good. I felt transported to my favorite mountains in the fall.

Sonny is an interesting character and I can never read enough about her psychic ability.

It was interesting reading about the "dancing dog." I would love to actually see a routine. I bet it is amazing. I emjoy reading about all the dogs that Raine has. I was so glad that Hero may be back in the next book which I anxiously await.

The scene at the very end cries for "more." I am intrigued by this new love interest for Raine.

You will love this addition to the series. Donna, your word processor is calling...don't you hear it?

A must have for anyone buying or selling a firearm

Several of the pictures do not match the firearm listed. Incomplete discriptions, it apparently wasn't proof-read.

This is the book for you! It has great pictures of each model. I have used it to help identify firearms and it comes in handy for grading firearms.

Overall I feel this is a good buy as I have identified several older model weapons without much trouble. However, trying to find more recent model guns has been dismal. For example try to find any of the new Sig Sauer pistols or any of the new Derringers! Anyway, I have identified a couple of H&R pistols (pretty neat trick, good black and white photos helped tremendously) and a couple of rifles (one a Winchester rifle and you know how many flavors of those exist!) again by picture then description. I like how the book is broken into three sections (pistol, rifle, shotgun). The pistol part is broken into semi-auto then revolver for each company presented. I would have liked to have a more comprehensive breakout of new weapons (as I mentioned before) and more information on the various companies (some had nothing but an address...if that), but all in all a must have books for my library. A good buy.

This book is a good, quick reference for most available firearms, and has some particularly good sections on older arms, such as the early 20th century Luger pistols. It does seem to be missing some of the more common retail products (for example, finding and identifying the rifles sold at most Wal-Mart stores was difficult, or they weren't included...yet these are more likely to be found in circulation than a pre-64 Model 70). There were good black-and-white illustrations of many guns, but some guns had no photos and this is a drawback...especially if you are trying to identify an old family gun or the like.

Overall, it is still worth the price, and I recommend it as a supplement to some of the other more exhaustive works.

I own a retail firearms store and am always looking for books to suggest to my customers. An ok book if you are only a upland / small game hunter, but could be a bit broader in it's scope. A bit limited on reviews of guns that are available.

Fairly basic information, I was looking for some more technical information. Its a good book for review of basic information

Well written and easy to read, I finished the book in two sittings. This book will entertain and inform you on all the basics plus a fair portion of advanced topics as well. All material is fresh and timely, unlike books written 5 to 10 years ago. The book is nicely illsutrated with high quality color photos. The guns, loads and accessories discussed are avaialable today and on retailer shelves for your inspection.

A wise man once told me that when his skill set started to suffer, he got back to basics; a return to the fundamentals that form the foundation of so much of what we do. While this is a book of basics, the breadth and depth of the author's experience base facilitates its appeal and utility far beyond that of the beginner. Actions, chokes, loads, anecdotes, wit and witticisms- all this and more to instruct the beginner, and remind the know-it-all, of that which is important to the upland hunter: a good dog, enough gun, and days afield to reflect upon that which is truly seminal to this sojourn we call life.

Upland bird hunters,it has been said, are the staunchest traditionalists in the world outside of the Vatican. While that may not be strictly true, no well-educated modern ballistician can doubt that that many bird hunters are under grave misapprehensions based on incorrect information.

Examples? Well, shotgun shells are commonly marked on the box in DE (Dram equivalent). This refers to drams of black powder,which has been out of general use for a hundred years. This reviewer knows an experienced shooter who always shoots cylinder choke if allowed the choice, because he read in an article once that choke is an "outmoded concept".(He refuses to shoot with me at Trap for money.) How many times have we all heard that a gun is "hard-hitting"? And what errors might even we smart guys be making based on untrue information? And pass on to others?

Now comes a new author to the world of shotgun sports. Terry Boyer is first of all a good writer. Clear, easy-to-understand, entertaining, and at times downright humorous. Secondly, he has vast personal experience of his subject-- upland hunting over dogs, and the shotguns that are used for that purpose. Thirdly, however, he combines these qualities with a logical scientific mind willing to do independent testing of gun, shotshell and product performance. He attributes this to "30 years of law enforcement which", as he says, "focuses on results rather than theory". I think he's just a smart well-educated logical man who is a darn fine writer.

This slim (208 page) book is remarkable in both the comprehensiveness of the subject matter,and how interesting it is. He covers all types of upland game, shotguns for the field, shells, shot sizes, choosing a shotgun, learning to shoot it(or to improve your shooting), clays games for hunters,dress in the feld, altering the gun to make it shoot better for you,care of the shotgun, (concise) hand loading, carry and safety of the gun in the field..it just goes on and on. I thought I'd blow through this book in an hour or two. Nope. There is just so much good information here, without ever becoming tedious.

The pictures help too. This book is extensively and nicely illustrated with four-color photos of modern guns,shot, shells, boots,and nice upland shots. Do pictures help? Well, to pick an example, when was the last time you saw a picture of the amount of oil need to properly lube a semi-auto? Everyone SAYS "don't use too much oil"; Boyer shows you. Brand names are mentioned and pictured beautifully.

It really is hard to fault this fine new book. The guns pictured and discussed are the full range of normal upland guns,some quite attractive, but not glorious British art objects. But more guys shoot semi-autos or even pumps than Holland & Hollands.

If you know ANY upland hunter, but especially a newer one..get him this book. It is remarkably interesting even to experienced shooters (and mandatory for new ones), comprehensive of its subject, nicely illustrated and enlightening. Can't see how you could do better on this subject.

This is a very well written and researched account of a tragic event of the nature we encounter too often in the daily news. At the same time, it illuminates the tragic and absurd situation in which the country has placed itself on the subject of gun control.

Being aware of the real life events of the book, I can say that Lethal Passage is accurate and honest. Mr. Larson exposes the cracks in the gun control system and shows the ease with which a boy could purchase an automatic weapon and murder in cold blood. The murder story can make one cry in sorrow and in anger. His purpose in writing was to make a point in order to keep similar tragedies from occurring again. Unfortunately, up to this point, no one has listened.

When I read Erik Larson, I know I'm in for a treat, and this was no exception. This book not only tells the story of how a bullied boy takes his anger out using a gun at school, but the story of the inadequicies of gun legislation and the winding road the NRA has taken interpreting the 2nd Amendment. The one irony I found that Larson points out is that it's harder to get a driver's license than it is to get a gun in the United States. What I like most about the book is that Larson provides a solution to the gun problem and outlines a very reasonable and comprehensive bill regarding the use and regulations of guns. But I have to agree it would be impossible to get through legislation, not because it's unworthy, but because our current government is a messy monolith of a bureacracy where nothing gets done due to poor representation, egos, and political shortsightedness--in my humble opinion. Our forefathers would roll over in their graves if they could see what has become of our sacred 2nd Amendment. Excellent book by an author who does his homework.

This is a reasonably well written, but undeniably biased tale. The statistics are slanted and untrustworthy, and the rhetoric is tough to wade through for anyone on the pro-rights side of this issue.

Larson does show that straw purchasers of handguns contribute to crime. He spends little or no time on the contributing factors for such gun purchases. He does not address guns obtained by theft, or illegal sales or the lending of firearms within extended families, gangs or circles of acquaintances.

If your mind is already made up, you'll like this book.

I would recommend

Complete AR-15/M16 Sourcebook: What Every Shooter Needs to Know (Paperback)
by Duncan Long

as an additional title you should check out if you are interested in the subject.

I'm just getting started around the AR type rifles. I picked this book up after reading the fine reviews. I wasn't disappointed. It contains a very good history of the weapon, lists of variations, and details of the working mechanisms. It also shows, in easy to understand pictures and text, how to break down the weapon, dissasemble and clean it. It also shows how more detailed pieces, not normally taken apart for a cleaning, are put together. All-in-all, well worth the money spent. If you're getting started with one of these fine rifles, like I was, or are just interested, this is a great reference for you. If you're already an expert, a different source is probably the place to go.

When I first recieved the book I was concerned that it was thinner than I expected, only 134 pages. After review the book, I was extremely pleased. The book covers every thing from a part by part description to complete breakdown. The only hinderance is that it is black and white, but has tons of photos and diagrams to make up for it. Joe Poyer (the author) did a great job of covering history, laws that affect use, different manufacturers, ammo, options, and troubleshooting. I'm surprised that this book isn't more readily available, it should be standard issue with each rifle. I'd give it 6 stars if I could.

Good book, very imformative and detailed, would recommend.

This is a nice, little primer to whet your appetite for a more complete resource. The information is good, but with many gaps.

For instance, there is a complete table of models, but it does not include dates of manufacture or serial number info, which renders it useless as a resource for collectors or even first-time buyers.

Also, many details are missing and some things go unexplained altogether, which may be fine for those who already are experts, but this book seems aimed more at the novice.

Still, it's an interesting read, which did answer many of my questions.

Americans have affection for the inventor, the fellow that builds a better mousetrap or even just tinkers away in the basement attempting to make cold fusion happen. But we are nowadays conflicted about armaments; whoever that guy was who invented napalm we might not hold in much esteem. What are we to make of the man who invented the machine gun? He wrote in 1877, "It occurred to me that if I could invent a machine - a gun - which could, by rapidity of fire, enable one man to do as much battle duty as a hundred, that it would, to a great extent, supersede the necessity of large armies." Whether he was really so naïve, or whether he was deliberately trying to make his machine gun seem a tool of peace (the excuse used by every arms-maker or arms-dealer), isn't entirely clear. What is clear is that his invention made his name, a name you probably know even if you don't know the details of his life or gadget. In _Mr. Gatling's Terrible Marvel: The Gun That Changed Everything and the Misunderstood Genius Who Invented It_ (Viking), journalist and essayist Julia Keller tells all about this influential American inventor, and looks at many larger issues in American history as well. "The Gatling gun is a weapon of death," she writes, "but its story is not altogether grim. For it is also the story of a nation on the rise and of a man who, by inventing a new kind of machine, helped propel it in that upward trajectory."

Richard Jordan Gatling was born in North Carolina in 1818. He was a born tinkerer, not a farmer or store owner, occupations he had tried before his first invention came to him. He invented a seed planter that contained seeds in a hopper and dropped them one by one into just the right placement in the furrow, a great improvement over flinging seeds in all directions. Keller believes that the idea of the seed dropping into just the right place was transformed into bullets in a hopper dropping into just the right breach (of six) for Gatling's most famous invention. Gatling's machine, which looks like a small cannon on a tripod, with a circular hopper for bullets mounted above the breech and a "coffee grinder" handle to make the six barrels go around, wasn't the first attempt at a machine gun, but it was certainly the best. It worked efficiently and reliably, and should have been immediately taken up by the Union Army, but it was not. The arms-buying division of the Army was too conservative to experiment. The Gatling gun's most notable use during the years of the Civil War didn't even require it to be fired. There were bloody riots against the draft in 1863 in New York City, and the police stationed Gatling guns on rooftops. The intimidation worked and the mobs backed down. It had real use in the Spanish-American war, and Teddy Roosevelt valued it. Part of the Gatling gun's image problem is that it was bought by many foreign governments and colonial powers to suppress native populations who had no weapons to match the Gatling's efficiency.

So Richard Gatling may have hoped to bring peace, and at times his intimidating device calmed a situation by its mere appearance and not by causing rapid and multiple deaths. He would have liked those instances. His gadget, however, did bring a new industrialization to warfare. He was a decent man whose deadly gun was the making of his fortune and his fame; he went on to patent many other inventions, including a bicycle, a device to control wagon reins, and two years before he died in 1903, a new type of flush toilet. No one remembers those, of course. Keller's informative book, however, convincingly shows that like more famous figures such as Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, Gatling played an important role in changing the rural antebellum America into an industrialized nation.

The book should have contained pictures of how the invention actually worked. Diagrams would have been helpful in order to understand why this gun worked and why it worked so efficiently.

I have three problems with this book. 1) Ms Keller takes us off on a survey of 19th century America instead of concentrating on Richard Gatling. What did John Sutter have to do with the Gatling gun? Well, nothing, but she drags him in by the heels nevertheless. The entire first half of the book is given over to these digressions.

2) She doesn't like firearms--a disabling qualification in somebody who sets out to write the biography of the first successful rapid-fire gun. "The fact that arms are necessary to a nation's survival is a grubby and uncomfortable truth." Uncomfortable to Ms Keller, no doubt, but not to those of us who have used firearms for hunting, for target shooting, and during our military service.

3) She is so enthused by Richard Gatling (though not his gun as an enforcer of government policy!) that she shades the facts. To read her book, you'd conclude that the machine-gun problem was solved by Gatling in 1862 instead of by Hiram Maxim twenty years later--that the single-barrel, auto-loading, auto-firing machine guns of World War One were just minor improvements on Gatling's design. Tain't so.

One of the merits (and there are many) of Julia Keller's Mr. Gatling's Terrible Marvel is that the book is more than a biography of Richard Jordan Gatling (1818-1903), inventor of the automatic weapon which bears his name. It's also a well-written, well-researched, and insightful reflection on American self-identity and the icons by which we define ourselves.

We think of ourselves as humanitarian, ingenious, curious, mechanically skillful, industrious, problem-solving, determined, and upwardly mobile (the rags-to-riches aspect of the Great American Dream). As Keller points out, Gatling came to symbolize all these qualities. In the last quarter-century of his life, he was frequently pointed to as a man who personified the best of American qualities. His best known invention, the Gatling gun, was enshrined as "a laudable American accomplishment, another example of native ingenuity and craftsmanship and problem-solving acumen: America at its muscular, can-do best."

But as Ms. Keller also points out, there's a certain irony to all this. Gatling invented his gun in the hopes that its incredible killing power would end the Civil War quickly. As Keller says, the gun's "brutal spit-spot efficiency would, [Gatling] hoped, persuade nations of the waste and folly of war."

In fact, however, military conservatism sidelined its use on the battlefield. The only time it was used during the conflict was against civilians in the New York Draft Riots of 1863. It would be much used--some might say over-used--in the succeeding decades in the Indian Wars and by federal troops and state militia against striking workers. Foreign governments bought thousands of the guns to acquire and hold onto colonies, and Teddy Roosevelt, hero of the Spanish-American War, claimed that the Gatling was the decisive factor (along with Teddy himself, of course) in defeating the Spanish. Much like Alfred Nobel and his dynamite, then, Richard Jordan Gatling found his "humanitarian" invention used in quite nonhumanitarian muscular ways.

There's also irony in other aspects of Gatling's life too: after he sold the Gatling patent to Colt, his financial fortunes dipped; and although he continued inventing right up to the end of his life (his patents include a flushable toilet), he would forever be remembered almost exclusively for his killing machine.

America, argues Ms. Keller, has always had an ambivalent attitude to weapons (probably because their use against other humans tends to upset part of our self-identity as humanitarian). In the earliest days of the Republic, statesmen debated about them. That debate was cast in a completely different light by Gatling's invention of his lethal gun, which not only helped change the face of warfare, but also influenced the way in which Americans and the rest of the world thought about the ethics (and aesthetics) of killing in wartime. As Keller notes, killing became more impersonal, less one-on-one. Mr. Gatling's Terrible Marvel invites readers to reflect deeply on these kinds of issues.

Highly recommended.

Brilliant cultural study of the 19th century through the lens of weapons inventions and innovations. Keller places the Gatling Gun smack in the middle of Americas growth and westward expansion. She explores the contradictions of Gatling's life and the contradictions in Americas view of itself. From steam boats to small pox to agricultural inventions to the first "machine" gun we travel with Richard Gatling through the great American experience
Keller explores the importance of the American patent system and patent office, to America's rise and economic expansion. She really puts her finger on the pulse of this country in the 19th century.
Packed full of great history, well paced, and a joy to read.

In _Oscar Caliber Gun_ a petty mind devolves into darkness. Like Holden Caulfield in _Catcher in the Rye_, the protagonist Ray is upset by the petty concerns of the world. He shares Holden's sense that people are phony and trite.

Holden is ultimately redeemed and humanitarian in spirit.
But Ray is a more postmodern character, one who is adrift and bitter. As the novel progresses, Ray becomes darker. He seems misguided at first, then suddenly beligerant and homicidal. I was perplexed by this transition--it was an awkward and poorly executed part of the book.

While following Holden's path was rewarding in so many ways, Ray's route is just awful. Although the first half of the novel--the jaded, miguided Ray--was a page-turning success, the second half spirals and sputters. By the end I was glad to be done with Ray and with the novel.

For a much more rewarding descent into the beastly side of society, try Denis Johnson's _Angels_. While _Oscar Caliber Gun_ is a nice try, _Angels_ is a masterpiece.

Henry Baum's Oscar Caliber Gun is a teriffic insight into the mind of a psycho -- who goes too far (or does he?). The story is told from the perspective of Ray, who is a disgruntaled 20-something that bounces from job-to-job, relationship-to-relationship and is fed up with the celebrity driven culture that we live in. It follows Ray's actions, as he slowly downspirals and his behavior becomes more and more dangerous to himself and others. (I don't want to give too much away)

The story, which is fast paced, is interesting, because although Ray is obviously nuts, the reader (or at least I did) empathizes with why he acts the way he does and supports his crazy actions.

I loved this book and couldn't put it down. It was a great action adventure and unique insight into the downfalls of celebrity-driven culture.

Once you start reading you can't put it down. Strong stuff.
Henry Baum is the real thing. It would make one hell of a motion picture. Can't wait to see what else this writer does. A natural. I gave it the highest rating and highly recommend it.

WhenI read this book, I was amazed at how the character,Ray, even though he was pshychotic, had thoughts so similar to mine.And though I didn't sympathize with the character, I was on his side. We could all end up like Ray... H. Baum has a lot of good novels in his future. I can't wait!

Baum has written the nineties version of Jim Thomson's Killer Inside Me. Unsparing, direct and without condescending to his main character, he captures a mind reeling from boredom and outsider status. A brave book.

A must have for serious students of history. This book is a no nonsense tresis on standard infantry weapons from an "operator's" viewpoint. The book helps the student to understand the advantages, disadvantages and quirks of each weapon. The remifications of these instruments upon history can then be more fully appreciated. This book is not a "scholarly" work. If the details of the development and deployment of these weapons are needed, then other sources would need to be sought. It is thick enough as it is! This book should be considered a reference of overview and not an in depth analysis of each rifle or machine gun. The text is excellent and the photos appropriate. It would be a worthy addition to any library. I highly recomend it.

I'm not sorry I bought this book, yet I was a little disappointed by it.

First the good news:

This is a nice thick book that really does cover a lot of weapons from many different countries. The author appears to have begun shooting and collecting military firearms shortly after birth and has actual military combat experience, so his opinions ought to be considered carefully. And he certainly deserves credit for rounding up so many oddball guns in shootable condition. Except for the ordnance museum at Aberdeen Proving Ground, I'd have no idea where to find so many even to look at them in glass cases.

And now the bad:

1) This book contains a lot of silly errors. Words spelled wrong, sentences that don't make sense, photographs mislabeled or printed in reverse.

2) The book's "testing" didn't really amount to much. I had imagined - perhaps unrealistically - that these guns were going to be dragged through mud, submerged in water, buried in sand, and frozen in blocks of ice. In reality, Mr. Mullin seems to have borrowed many of the weapons from his rich collector buddies and couldn't treat them so badly. And uniform accuracy testing procedures would have been nice. Most of the test firing appears to have consisted of informal plinking on warm sunny days, leaving many questions unanswered.

3) The overall organization of this book leaves a lot to be desired. I would have liked to seen separate sections for combat rifles, sniper rifles and light machineguns, with tables in each section comparing such vital statistics as length, weight, magazine capacity, caliber, bullet weight, muzzle velocity and accuracy test results. This would be handy for comparing the different designs intended to fulfill the same role. Instead, Mullin goes by country, jumbles the different types together, gives no tabulated information, and if you're lucky he might happen to mention in the text how much the gun weighs or how long the barrel is.

4) In the absence of any real testing, this book basically boils down to one guy's opinion of how these guns "felt" in his hands, or how they measure up overall to his personal concept of what a fighting rifle ought to be. In many cases I tend to agree with his opinions. I never felt that French and Italian guns were total junk. I never was all that impressed with the M1903 Springfield. And the original M60 surely was about the most stupidly designed machinegun ever. On the other hand, Mr. Mullin repeatedly places great importance on rapidity of fire with bolt actions while not seeming to give any special credit to the semi-auto designs. My own personal idea is that the semi-auto's ability to fire multiple shots without attention-attracting arm movements is a priceless advantage for grunts and snipers alike. Opinions are like bellybuttons - everybody's got one.

Anyway, I think the reader should regard this book more like a stoveside chat with a respected buddy than the last word on combat rifle reliability. And I highly recommend getting the book "Cartridges of the World" along with "Small Arms of the World" or Smith and Smith's "Book of Rifles" to fill in some of the missing vital statistics.

If you like to !shoot! rifles and want to buy military surplus rifles, this is the book for you. The author covers very practical details - are the sights easy to use, is it well balanced, what is the minimum range on the sights. You might be tempted to buy a wonderful WWI rifle only to discover the minimum distance on the sights is 400 yards!

This is not a 'for collectors only' book with details about how to interpret the serial numbers or the three different types of sling swivels, this is about how they feel to shoot.

Very helpful for the shooter / collector - those with Curios & Relics licenses, or for those shooters who wonder what it was like for soldiers in a particular time period with regard to the weapons they were issued.

This could have been a really great book on testing current and past military rifles and light machine guns. Unfortunately it is marred by a few glaring errors that place it well down the list of books I think important to the rifle or military enthusiast:

1) To me, the reviews are quite inconsistent in nature. For example, once in a while a rifle's accuracy at 100 yards may be given, while other rifles aren't tested at all. So when the author describes a certain rifle as 'accurate' you usually have no idea what he means by that term. More seriously, the author sometimes praises a rifle's features in a test, then, in another section of the book, criticises those same features.

2) I thought the reviews utilize historic background in a selective manner. For example, the author repeatedly praises the M1 carbine and its cartridge as a suitable offensive weapon, and mentions 'real fighting men' subscribe to this viewpoint. But he completely leaves out the carbine's horrible record of malfunctions and poor stopping power during the Korean War conflict, a record that started a intensive Army investigation and ended with the carbine being phased out of service (not to mention continuing problems with poor stopping performance during the Vietnam War with the LRRPs). Presumably these soldiers were no less 'real fighting men.'

3. I think the book contains insufficient research. I know that the book is intended as a 'current test review', but nevertheless the author frequently wonders what a rifle's design or features must have been intended for, when in fact that fact is already known to history.

4. Some of the test reviews are just too much to swallow whole. I mean, who could think that the French Chauchat and its 16-round .30 U.S. counterpart (a cartridge that could literally shake the weapon apart) could be anything but a piece of junk, given the well-documented history and obvious design faults? The book shows a closeup photo of the Chauchaut magazine with its huge side cutouts, but there's not even a mention of what trench mud could do and did to cartridge feeding.

5. Some of the writing contains errors and the photos are really bad. The author needs to use a pro photographer who understands that not using fill flash in daylight for photos of rifles results in shadows and black darkness instead of details.

Mullins tests all the major rifles of WWI, II, Korea, and Vietnam. His rifle skill and military experience combine for a unique insight into weapon performance and what it must have been like to use them in combat

If you are in the financial services industry - this book is a must read!

The model Scott uses in his book concentrates the reader on effective time and client management. And gives simple "Rules of Engagement" with prospects.

If you want your business to grow then you need to read this book. It truly has helped my business.

This book has changed my life. I have done more business using Mr. Kimball's advice and experience. I have been implementing his business techniques with my own company and I have seen more results than ever thought possible. He really knows his stuff and thanks to all his information and knowledge my business has grown so much that I have been able to hire 3 more associates to help with all the overflow of new clients. Thank you Mr. Kimball! My family and I have truely benefitted from your expertise. MaryBeth Giles, Madison Ct.

Top Gun Sales was a rip roaring good book. The book will definatly light a fire under the sales professional. The material can be used to provide a long term sales system or a short term fix to various problems all sales professionals occasionally have.

It is a book to read and to use daily. I highly recommend it.

To say that there are many books available on sales techniques and motivation is an understatement. And I have personally read many of them. Anyone in the sales business is looking for that secret formula to getting more, bigger and faster results. Afterall, that's the name of the game. Most books of this genre give you just that... the author's path to "bigger". Scott Kimball's book is different. He tells us to forget about bigger and go after "better". A smaller book, more attention to fewer clients and closer client relations. I guess this makes him the Jerry McGuire of the broker business. But, I like it. What a relief to know that I don't have to run myself ragged to have the biggest roster of clients in the office. I'm quite satisfied to have the BEST roster of clients in the office, thank you very much. And with more attention and focus, my smaller book has become just that - the best in the office - by far. Top Gun Sales is a blue-print to success, clear and simple. You'd think that an easy-to-understand method of making more money is the best thing about this book. You'd be wrong. I got something more valuable to me than more money from Kimball's upbeat, humorous and jargon-free foray into the motivational arena. When Sunday nights come along these days, I no longer dread the thought of "having" to go to work tomorrow. I find myself thinking that I "get" to go to work tomorrow. You can't put a price on that kind of attitude adjustment.

This books rehashes every maxim that has been trotted out in the financial services industry, and anyone who has been in the business more than a year has heard them all. The bio on the back really doesn't offer any credentials for the author other than making it sound like he made some money speculating at the top of the market. I'd be interested in how he is doing now? Finally, the book is way overpriced. The content of the book would comprise two chapters in a regular-sized book -- this book is the size of a Reader's Digest with huge print. I don't know who the other reviewers are, but get the feeling they must be the author's friends.

I have read about von Richthofen and his squadren and his life, just not from this book. My review comes simply from the title, I would never read a book so obviously slanted to label people he killed in war as victims, they were there to kill people to and if they had the chance would have shot him, and eventually they did kill him. Civilians are victims in wars, soldiers are casualties. Richthofen killed soldiers, not civilians.

I have not read this book but I've read many other Red Baron books. I'm writing to correct the statement made by another reviewer that the term victim is inappropriate for a soldier killed in combat. My brother researches family military history and has aquired several war diaries and in each officially written unit history the US military refers to soldiers killed in action on both sides as Victims. Victim is the correct term and if anyone questions this do some research before becoming an expert on the subject.

This book is not only a treasure trove of historical information, it also manages to evoke the humanity of the Great War. The authors have tracked down tons of information on Richthofen's victims - where and when they were born, some tidbits of their lives, where they were buried and who they left behind (or what became of them after the war if they survived). The book seems to reveal two sides of Richthofen, too - sometimes, a cold-blooded hunter, other times, more of a sportsman who delighted in meeting his adversaries after defeating them.

The authors have also very, very carefully investigated each confirmed 'kill' to try to determine which Allied loss, if any, it was - and in the process exposed the difficulties and inconsistencies in identifying enemy aircraft, determining what happened to them, and recording all the information correctly. Not surprisingly, their research has revealed that some of the 'victims' may have made it home after all - and that perhaps Manfred did not claim every enemy he shot down.

The book is packed with wonderful photographs, of victims and aircraft and, of course, Richthofen himself. There are color paintings of ten of the victories, along with the artist's comments on some of the historical accuracies and liberties he took.

The only problem - and one that is easily overlooked - is some sketchy editing. Some of the text is not as clear as it could be, and some of the text is not well organized.

This book is pretty much the last word on Richthofen's 80 victories.Many previously misidentified "victims" are finaly correctly identified.Another great work from Norman Franks.

Massive amoumts of research were obviously put into this book.UNDER THE GUNS OF THE RED BARON recounts every single one ofRichtofen's eighty enemy kills, and, the death of the Baron himself. It also contains a short biography of the pilots who were shot down, and what plane the victims were piloting. Although this may not be your typical history book, it should be in every aviation enthusiasts bookshelf.