Book details

Tommy

The Gun That Changed America

Author: Karen Blumenthal

Tommy

Tommy

$14.99

About This Book

The fascinating and topical nonfiction story of how one gun changed American courtrooms, streets, and homes, told for a YA audience by award-winning author Karen Blumenthal

Page Count
240
On Sale
08/01/2017
Age Range
12-18

Book Details

The fascinating and topical nonfiction story of how one gun changed American courtrooms, streets, and homes, told for a YA audience by award-winning author Karen Blumenthal

John Taliaferro Thompson had a mission: to develop a lightweight, fast-firing weapon that would help Americans win on the battlefield. His Thompson submachine gun could deliver a hundred bullets in a matter of seconds—but didn't find a market in the U.S. military. Instead, the Tommy gun became the weapon of choice for a generation of bootleggers and bank-robbing outlaws, and became a deadly American icon. Following a bloody decade—and eighty years before the mass shootings of our own time—Congress moved to take this weapon off the streets, igniting a national debate about gun control.

Critically-acclaimed author Karen Blumenthal, author of Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition, Hillary Rodham Clinton: A Woman Living History, and Six Days in October: The Stock Market Crash of 1929, reveals the fascinating illustrated story of this famous and deadly weapon—of the lives it changed, the debate it sparked, and the unprecedented response it inspired in Tommy: The Gun That Changed America.

Praise for Tommy: The Gun that Changed America:
“The Thompson rapid-firing submachine gun is the crux of Blumenthal’s accessible social history, which encompasses military weaponry, gangster warfare, and gun-control legislation. . . . Engrossing and grisly.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Blumenthal’s fascinating biography of the weapon is most dramatic in its chapters on the famous gangsters. . . . Lively prose, well-selected photographs, and thorough source notes round out this fine work. A gripping look at guns, gangsters, and finding the ‘right balance between individual freedoms and community safety.'” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Imprint Publisher

Square Fish

ISBN

9781250115409

Reading Guide

In The News

“Lively prose, well-selected photographs, and thorough source notes round out this fine work. A gripping look at guns, gangsters, and finding the 'right balance between individual freedoms and community safety'.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“[An] accessible social history, which encompasses military weaponry, gangster warfare, and gun-control legislation.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Peppered with action-filled scenes and period photographs...This thoroughly researched, compulsive read is another Blumenthal winner. A bang-up look at American history.” —Booklist, starred review

“Blumenthal breathes life into this seemingly off-putting subject. . . this action-packed title will hold the attention of reluctant readers and history buffs alike.” —School Library Journal, starred review

“In this biography of a gun and the times in which it lived, Blumenthal traces the Thompson submachine gun, a.k.a. the Tommy. . . With thorough research and impeccable documentation, [Blumenthal] shows the complexity of gun culture, leaving more questions than answers concerning contemporary use and misuse of firearms and the future of Second Amendment battles.” —Horn Book

“A great story well told.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

About the Creators

Tommy

Tommy

$14.99