Book on oliver winchester biography
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Oliver and Sarah: The Story of the Winchesters
A history of the Winchester family and fortune.
THERE IS NOTHING as American as the Winchester rifle. A technological wonder, a lifestyle brand, and a devastator of lives, it’s an invention that changed the world, both in terms of its function and use, and in the capitalist enterprise that drove its dissemination. We’re used to hagiographic biographies of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs like Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs, so a similar work devoted to the family that built the gun shouldn’t be too surprising. Laura Trevelyan’s The Winchester: The Gun That Built an American Dynasty is that book. Trevelyan herself is a descendent of the Winchester family, and her history lauds Oliver Winchester, his company, and the great works of his death-dealing weapon.
From the opening chapter’s depiction of Oliver’s early days as a carpenter and as a shirt manufacturer, Trevelyan sets the tone, describing Winchester as a person in the same mold as Jobs and Bill Gates, noting his combination of “fundamental uprightness” and his “entrepreneur’s flair and flourish.” Winchester, she writes, wasn’t content “to work for others in the sleepy world of constructing houses of worship — he wished to run his own show and make his own destiny.”
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"A riveting explanation of America's historic obsession with guns. . . . The book is beautifully illustrated, with fascinating photos of the Winchester family, and with well-known historical figures—including the Native American leader Geronimo and President Theodore Roosevelt—clutching their repeating rifles."—Gerri Kimber, Times Literary Supplement
"I’m often wary of family histories written by family members, but Laura Trevelyan, a New York correspondent for the BBC, has done a fine job with this detailed but accessible look at the life, times and commerce of Oliver Winchester—Trevelyan’s great great great grandfather—and his many descendants of both the human and firearms varieties. . . . Whether you’re a fan of firearms or simply of American history, there is much to enjoy and learn in this easy-to-read and well-footnoted volume."—Craig Hodgkins, American Shooting Journal
"[The Winchester] details the extraordinary life of Oliver Winchester, the company, and its rapid rise and slow fall as told by a distant family descendant and noted BBC anchor and correspondent."—John Buol, American Gunsmith
"Laura Trevelyan is one of the most brilliant journalists and incisiv•
The Winchester: Say publicly Gun Ditch Built block up American Dynasty
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“[A] detailed but accessible flick through at description life, historical and face