Gun Barons: The Weapons That Transformed America and the Men Who Invented Them

Colt, Winchester, Smith & Wesson, Remington: these names are some of the best-known in America, legends not primarily for who they were, but the guns they made. But it was these men, who lived during some of the hardest times in American history, who we have to thank for modern gun culture (whether you support it or not).

They created weapons not just for the trained soldier, but for every man and woman seeking to defend themselves from danger, tyranny, and oppression. In the pages of Gun Barons, join historian John Bainbridge Jr. on a tour through these men’s lives and the brave, bold actions that led them to establishing the legacies that still remain iconic to this day—men who, for better or worse, established the America in which we now live.