
Gun Barons
The Weapons That Transformed America and the Men Who Invented Them
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $21.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Lee Goettl
About this listen
Love them or hate them, guns are woven deeply into the American soul. Names like Colt, Smith & Wesson, Winchester, and Remington are legendary. Yet few people are aware of the roles these men played at a crucial time in United States history, from westward expansion in the 1840s, through the Civil War, and into the dawn of the Gilded Age. Through personal drive and fueled by bloodshed, they helped propel the young country into the forefront of the world's industrial powers.
Their creations helped save a nation divided, while planting seeds that would divide the country again a century later. Their inventions embodied an intoxicating thread of American individualism—part fiction, part reality—that remains the foundation of modern gun culture. They promoted guns not only for the soldier, but for the Everyman, and also made themselves wealthy beyond their most fevered dreams.
Gun Barons captures how their bold inventiveness dwelled in the psyche of an entire people, not just in the minds of men who made firearm fortunes. Whether we revere these larger-than-life men or vilify them, they helped forge the American character.
©2022 John Bainbridge, Jr. (P)2022 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
-
American Gun
- A History of the U.S. in Ten Firearms
- By: Chris Kyle, William Doyle
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the time of his tragic death in February 2013, former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, the most accomplished sniper in U.S. military history, was finishing a remarkable book that retold American history through the lens of a hand-selected list of firearms. Kyle masterfully argues that guns have played a fascinating, indispensable, and often under-appreciated role in our national story. He carefully chose ten guns to help tell his story, ranging from the American long rifle to the modern M-16, and uses these guns as a platform for exploring American history.
-
-
An Important Look at US History
- By harry on 06-24-13
By: Chris Kyle, and others
-
Revolver
- Sam Colt and the Six-Shooter That Changed America
- By: Jim Rasenberger
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 16 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Brilliantly told, Revolver brings the brazenly ambitious and profoundly innovative industrialist and leader Samuel Colt to vivid life. In the space of his 47 years, he seemingly lived five lives: He traveled, womanized, drank prodigiously, smuggled guns to Russia, bribed politicians, and supplied the Union Army with the guns they needed to win the Civil War. Colt lived during an age of promise and progress, but also of slavery, corruption, and unbridled greed, and he not only helped to create this America, he completely embodied it.
-
-
Sam Colt, but not the Revolver
- By Eggleston on 08-01-20
By: Jim Rasenberger
-
The Guns of John Moses Browning
- The Remarkable Story of the Inventor Whose Firearms Changed the World
- By: Nathan Gorenstein
- Narrated by: Michael David Axtell
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few people are aware that John Moses Browning - a tall, humble, cerebral man born in 1855 and raised as a Mormon in the American West - was the mind behind many of the world-changing firearms that dominated more than a century of conflict. He invented the design used in virtually all modern pistols, created the most popular hunting rifles and shotguns, and conceived the machine guns that proved decisive not just in World Wars I and II but nearly every major military action since. Yet few in America knew his name until he was into his 60s.
-
-
Fascinating Story
- By tb on 07-02-21
-
Firepower
- How Weapons Shaped Warfare
- By: Paul Lockhart
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 21 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The history of warfare cannot be fully understood without considering the technology of killing. In Firepower, acclaimed historian Paul Lockhart tells the story of the evolution of weaponry and how it transformed not only the conduct of warfare, but also the very structure of power in the West, from the Renaissance to the dawn of the atomic era.
-
-
Needs More Guns Less Political Opinion
- By Jeb on 10-20-22
By: Paul Lockhart
-
American Rifle
- A Biography
- By: Alexander Rose
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 16 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
George Washington insisted that his portrait be painted with one. Daniel Boone created a legend with one. Abraham Lincoln shot them on the White House lawn. And Teddy Roosevelt had his specially customized. Now, in this first-of-its-kind audiobook, historian Alexander Rose delivers a colorful, engrossing biography of an American icon: the rifle.
-
-
A Nation of Riflemen
- By T. Patterson on 12-17-13
By: Alexander Rose
-
Glock
- The Rise of America's Gun
- By: Paul M. Barrett
- Narrated by: Kiff VandenHeuvel
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Today the Glock pistol has been embraced by two-thirds of all U.S. police departments, glamorized in countless Hollywood movies, and featured as a ubiquitous presence on prime-time TV. It has been rhapsodized by hip-hop artists, and coveted by cops and crooks alike. Created in 1982 by Gaston Glock, an obscure Austrian curtain-rod manufacturer, and swiftly adopted by the Austrian army, the Glock pistol, with its lightweight plastic frame and large-capacity spring-action magazine, arrived in America at a fortuitous time.
-
-
Interesting story. Could have done w/o anti gun rhetoric
- By jcgeesling on 02-24-19
By: Paul M. Barrett
-
American Gun
- A History of the U.S. in Ten Firearms
- By: Chris Kyle, William Doyle
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the time of his tragic death in February 2013, former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, the most accomplished sniper in U.S. military history, was finishing a remarkable book that retold American history through the lens of a hand-selected list of firearms. Kyle masterfully argues that guns have played a fascinating, indispensable, and often under-appreciated role in our national story. He carefully chose ten guns to help tell his story, ranging from the American long rifle to the modern M-16, and uses these guns as a platform for exploring American history.
-
-
An Important Look at US History
- By harry on 06-24-13
By: Chris Kyle, and others
-
Revolver
- Sam Colt and the Six-Shooter That Changed America
- By: Jim Rasenberger
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 16 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Brilliantly told, Revolver brings the brazenly ambitious and profoundly innovative industrialist and leader Samuel Colt to vivid life. In the space of his 47 years, he seemingly lived five lives: He traveled, womanized, drank prodigiously, smuggled guns to Russia, bribed politicians, and supplied the Union Army with the guns they needed to win the Civil War. Colt lived during an age of promise and progress, but also of slavery, corruption, and unbridled greed, and he not only helped to create this America, he completely embodied it.
-
-
Sam Colt, but not the Revolver
- By Eggleston on 08-01-20
By: Jim Rasenberger
-
The Guns of John Moses Browning
- The Remarkable Story of the Inventor Whose Firearms Changed the World
- By: Nathan Gorenstein
- Narrated by: Michael David Axtell
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few people are aware that John Moses Browning - a tall, humble, cerebral man born in 1855 and raised as a Mormon in the American West - was the mind behind many of the world-changing firearms that dominated more than a century of conflict. He invented the design used in virtually all modern pistols, created the most popular hunting rifles and shotguns, and conceived the machine guns that proved decisive not just in World Wars I and II but nearly every major military action since. Yet few in America knew his name until he was into his 60s.
-
-
Fascinating Story
- By tb on 07-02-21
-
Firepower
- How Weapons Shaped Warfare
- By: Paul Lockhart
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 21 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The history of warfare cannot be fully understood without considering the technology of killing. In Firepower, acclaimed historian Paul Lockhart tells the story of the evolution of weaponry and how it transformed not only the conduct of warfare, but also the very structure of power in the West, from the Renaissance to the dawn of the atomic era.
-
-
Needs More Guns Less Political Opinion
- By Jeb on 10-20-22
By: Paul Lockhart
-
American Rifle
- A Biography
- By: Alexander Rose
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 16 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
George Washington insisted that his portrait be painted with one. Daniel Boone created a legend with one. Abraham Lincoln shot them on the White House lawn. And Teddy Roosevelt had his specially customized. Now, in this first-of-its-kind audiobook, historian Alexander Rose delivers a colorful, engrossing biography of an American icon: the rifle.
-
-
A Nation of Riflemen
- By T. Patterson on 12-17-13
By: Alexander Rose
-
Glock
- The Rise of America's Gun
- By: Paul M. Barrett
- Narrated by: Kiff VandenHeuvel
- Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Today the Glock pistol has been embraced by two-thirds of all U.S. police departments, glamorized in countless Hollywood movies, and featured as a ubiquitous presence on prime-time TV. It has been rhapsodized by hip-hop artists, and coveted by cops and crooks alike. Created in 1982 by Gaston Glock, an obscure Austrian curtain-rod manufacturer, and swiftly adopted by the Austrian army, the Glock pistol, with its lightweight plastic frame and large-capacity spring-action magazine, arrived in America at a fortuitous time.
-
-
Interesting story. Could have done w/o anti gun rhetoric
- By jcgeesling on 02-24-19
By: Paul M. Barrett
-
The Second Amendment Manifesto
- What Every American Should Know about Their Constitutional Right to Own Guns
- By: John Paine
- Narrated by: John Paine
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Are you worried that your Second Amendment rights will be taken away? Are you sick of patronizing politicians, celebrities, and media pundits claiming you don’t have the right to own guns? Do you want to know the real story of the Second Amendment, so you can decide what it means for yourself? The Second Amendment Manifesto is for you. In true stories stretching from ancient Greece to modern-day America, you’ll quickly discover how the Second Amendment came to be, why it’s worth protecting, and what you can do to defend it right now.
-
-
Opened my eyes...
- By eac615 on 10-15-21
By: John Paine
-
In Defense of the Second Amendment
- By: Larry Correia
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bringing with him the practical experience that comes from having owned a high-end gun store—catering largely to law enforcement—and as a competitive shooter and self-defense trainer, Correia blasts apart the emotion-laden, logic-free rhetoric of the gun-control fanatics who turn every "mass shooting" into a crazed call for violating your rights, abusing the Constitution—and doing absolutely nothing to really fight crime.
-
-
Easily relatable explanation of why 2A is valid
- By Andrew Johnson on 01-24-23
By: Larry Correia
-
American Gun
- The True Story of the AR-15 Rifle
- By: Cameron McWhirter, Zusha Elinson
- Narrated by: Roger Wayne
- Length: 14 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 1950s, an obsessive firearms designer named Eugene Stoner invented the AR-15 rifle in a California garage. High-minded and patriotic, Stoner sought to devise a lightweight, easy-to-use weapon that could replace the M1s touted by soldiers in World War II. What he did create was a lethal handheld icon of the American century.
-
-
Good Beginning that Devolves into Leftist Propaganda
- By Alexander the Conqueror on 03-27-24
By: Cameron McWhirter, and others
-
The Rifle
- Combat Stories from America's Last WWII Veterans, Told Through an M1 Garand
- By: Andrew Biggio
- Narrated by: Shawn Compton
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Rifle is the inspirational story of a 28-year-old US Marine, Andrew Biggio, who returned home from combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, full of questions about the price of war. He found answers from those who survived the costliest war of all - WWII veterans. It began when Biggio bought a 1945 M1 Garand Rifle, the most common rifle used in WWII. When Biggio showed the gun to his neighbor, WWII veteran Corporal Joseph Drago, it unlocked memories Drago had kept unspoken for 50 years.
-
-
A must read
- By david cohen on 06-03-21
By: Andrew Biggio
-
Misfire
- The Tragic Failure of the M16 in Vietnam
- By: Bob Orkand, Lyman Duryea
- Narrated by: Jim Seybert
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The M16 rifle is one of the world’s most famous firearms, iconic as the American weapon of the Vietnam War and, indeed, as the US military’s standard service rifle until only a few years ago. But the story of the M16 in Vietnam is anything but a success story. In the early years of the war, the US military had a problem: Its primary infantry rifle, the M14, couldn’t stand up to the enemy’s AK-47s. The search was on for a replacement that was lighter in weight, more durable, and more lethal than the M14.
-
-
I like the information provided.
- By Rhythmtech on 09-09-20
By: Bob Orkand, and others
-
Stealth
- The Secret Contest to Invent Invisible Aircraft
- By: Peter Westwick
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a moonless night in January 1991, a dozen US aircraft appeared in the skies over Baghdad. To the Iraqi air defenses, the planes seemed to come from nowhere. Each aircraft was more than 60 feet in length and with a wingspan of 40 feet, yet its radar footprint was the size of a ball bearing. Here was the first extensive combat application of Stealth technology. And it was devastating.
-
-
Good Overview of the original development
- By Amazon Customer on 08-01-22
By: Peter Westwick
-
Tank Warfare on the Eastern Front, 1941-1942
- Schwerpunkt
- By: Robert A. Forczyk
- Narrated by: P.J. Ochlan
- Length: 16 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robert Forczyk's incisive study offers fresh insight into how the two most powerful mechanized armies of WWII developed their tactics and weaponry during the early years of the Russo-German War. He uses German, Russian, and English sources to provide the first comprehensive overview and analysis of armored warfare from the German and Soviet perspectives.
-
-
An impressive, unbiased account of German superiority on the eastern front in 1941 to 1942.
- By Anonymous User on 11-30-23
-
Deadly Force
- Understanding Your Right to Self-Defense, 2nd Edition
- By: Massad Ayoob
- Narrated by: Massad Ayoob
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Deadly Force, 2nd Edition is a continuation of Ayoob’s mission to educate gun owners on all aspects of lethal force laws. Drawing on more than four decades of experience as an expert witness for the courts in weapons and shooting cases and serving as a fully sworn and empowered part-time police officer for 43 years, Ayoob also educates through his Massad Ayoob Group classes such as the Armed Citizen’s Rules of Engagement.
-
-
Important update of a classic
- By Tim on 05-09-23
By: Massad Ayoob
-
The Summer of 1876
- Outlaws, Lawmen, and Legends in the Season That Defined the American West
- By: Chris Wimmer
- Narrated by: Chris Wimmer, Johnny Heller
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The summer of 1876 was a key time period in the development of the mythology of the Old West. Many individuals who are considered legends by modern listeners were involved in events that began their notoriety or turned out to be the most famous—or infamous—moments of their lives. Those individuals were Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Wild Bill Hickok, and Jesse James. The Summer of 1876 weaves together the timelines of the events that made these men legends.
-
-
Like History? You will thoroughly enjoy this book!
- By JRC on 04-26-24
By: Chris Wimmer
-
Shotguns and Stagecoaches
- The Brave Men Who Rode for Wells Fargo in the Wild West
- By: John Boessenecker
- Narrated by: Alex Hyde-White
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shotguns and Stagecoaches tells the true stories of the Wild West heroes who guarded the iconic Wells Fargo stagecoaches and trains, battling colorful thieves, vicious highwaymen, and robbers armed with explosives....
-
-
absolutely one of the best books iv listen to!
- By shawn c stewart on 10-22-19
-
The Gun
- By: C. J. Chivers
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 18 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is the world's most widely recognized weapon, the most profuse tool for killing ever made. More than fifty national armies carry the automatic Kalashnikov, as do an array of police, intelligence, and security agencies all over the world. In this tour de force, prizewinning New York Times reporter C. J. Chivers traces the invention of the assault rifle.
-
-
A compelling book about much more than guns!
- By Edward on 10-26-10
By: C. J. Chivers
-
Jim Bridger
- Trailblazer of the American West
- By: Jerry Enzler
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 13 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Even among iconic frontiersmen like John C. Fremont, Kit Carson, and Jedediah Smith, Jim Bridger stands out. A mountain man of the American West, straddling the fur trade era and the age of exploration, he lived the life legends are made of. Here, in a biography that finally gives this outsize character his due, Jerry Enzler takes this frontiersman's full measure for the first time—and tells a story that would do Jim Bridger proud.
-
-
JIM BRIDGER A CHARACTER WITH CHARACTER
- By Sword of Truth on 07-18-24
By: Jerry Enzler
A (at the time) New Era of Firearm Technology
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Nice mix of engineering history and US History
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Very in depth history of weapons.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
History Not Forgotten
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great stuff!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Well written history of the arms industry
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Good listen
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great Book on Firearms History
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
ue.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Condescending and Biased at best
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.