A Book Review of Glock: The Rise of America's Gun

[Dooga]

Glock: The Rise of America's Gun is not the work of a Glock fanboy like many of these gun books are. It is the gun version of Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World. Of course it is an historically-accurate representation of the life and times of Gaston Glock and everything GLOCK, Inc., and its line of handguns.

It is also a complete history of the Second Amendment to the US Constitution, a history of gun-related politics and policies, and also a very accurate and sober portrayal of America's love for and of guns.

In the same way you read Cod even though you're not into fish or fishing, you really should read Glock. If you're anti-gun, you'll learn both about the culture of firearms in America and how powerfull and intelligent -- savvy -- a force your enemy really is. If you're pro-gun, the Glock revolution will blow your mind, especially in contrast with how pathetically every gun manufacturer in the world performed against GLOCK, especially poor Smith & Wesson, a company that watched as GLOCK came in and single-handedly replaced every .38 Special revolver in every police station in America with not only a high-capacity, semi-automatic, magazine-fed pistol, but with a Glock 17.

I can keep on going. Each story is more amazing than the next. The chutzpah of Gaston Glock is only bettered by the cajones of his right hand man during the early days in Atlanta, Mr. Karl Walter, a man who turned the conservative and serious world of arms sales and arms dealing in America into a discoteque, into a circus, into a strip club, into a world of Hollywood action flicks, rap music videos, and an army of Glock devotees that is only bettered by those mad men and women who are obsessed with their 1911.

Let me explain why I know so much about this book and it's not even out yet. Well, I read an advanced Gally copy of the book. On November 4th, Paul Barrett contacted me to review his upcoming book, Glock: The Rise of America's Gun. He chose me because I guess I am pretty open about both my gun ownership and my attraction to Glocks. Though I have only been shooting for a year, I already have a pretty nice collection of three Glock handguns: a Generation 3 Glock 23 in .40 S&W, a 9mm First Generation Glock 17 -- the original -- a retiree from the DC police department, and my Generation 4 Glock 26, my Baby Glock, in 9mm.

So, in an exemplary blogger outreach campaign, Mr, Barrett sent me a Galley copy to read. And I read it. I consumed it and was mesmerized. I was mesmerized by how much I didn't know about these United States, about gun legislation, about gun bans and bans on high-capacity magazines. I was flabbergasted by the loopholes in these bans that were so big you could taxi a 747 through them,

I was not mesmerized by the typical fanboy depiction of their favorite gun and gun maker, I was mesmerized by a book writen by a in investigative journalist who dig into the GLOCK empire, and its ripple effects on not just Law Enforcement but popular culture, rap music, politics, television, and hundreds of movies.

I really didn't know anything about the history of firearms in America or how they're sourced and have been banned; how they're imported -- or, rather, sourced and then assembled -- and how they're marketed and sold.

And that's not even scratching the surface of all that is GLOCK, Inc, and its illustrious founder, Gaston Glock, an Austrian nerd who ended up developing, designing, and producing the most iconic pistol since the Colt 1911:

If you liked Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World, Salt: A World History, The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell, Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World, or Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, you'll love Glock: The Rise of America's Gun by Paul M. Barrett.

NOTE: I edited out some excerpts and quotes from the book because many places have strict copyright restrictions but the full version is on my personal blog.

[Dooga]

I know this isn't the NPR-listening kind of group but there was a pretty great interview today on "Fresh Air" on NPR. Seriously. Pretty good. Worth a listen.

[cwfunrider]

I bought both my first GLOCK and a Kindle Fire a few months back. While perusing the Kindle store I came accross this book and figured to give it a read. Learn some history behind the infamous GLOCK.

I could not put it down. Fascinating, from start to finish. From the early years marketing strategy to the boundless loop holes in the high capacity bans. It is a great read, GLOCK fan or not. I typically sleep on flights but on a trip to Dallas while reading this book I read from take off to landing both ways.

Read it. You will not be disappointed.

[ShotgunBlast]

Haven't read the book, but I concur that the Fresh Air interview was fantastic.

[Reca]

I think I will pick this up over the weekend & get some reading done. Thanks for the heads up on this