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Mr. Gatling's Terrible Marvel: The Gun That Changed Everything and the Misunderstood Genius Who Invented It
A Pulitzer Prize winner explores the role of the first machine gun in transforming America into a superpower
Although it was little used during the American Civil War—the time in which it was invented—the Gatling gun soon changed the nature of warfare and the course of world history. Discharging two hundred shots per minute with alarming accuracy, the world’s first machine gun became vitally important to protecting and expanding America’s overseas interests. Its inventor, Richard Gatling, was famous in his own time for creating and improving many industrial designs, from bicycles and steamship propellers to flush toilets. A man of great business and scientific acumen, Gatling actually proposed his gun as a way of saving lives, thinking it would decrease the size of armies and, therefore, make it easier to supply soldiers and reduce malnutrition deaths. The scientists who unleashed America’s atomic arsenal less than a century later would see it much the same way.
In Mr. Gatling’s Terrible Marvel, Julia Keller offers a riveting account of the Gatling gun’s invention, its misunderstood creator, and its tremendous impact on American and world events. She also shows how the gun, in its combination of ingenuity, idealism, and destructive power, perfectly exemplified the paradox of America’s rise as a world superpower.
Although it was little used during the American Civil War—the time in which it was invented—the Gatling gun soon changed the nature of warfare and the course of world history. Discharging two hundred shots per minute with alarming accuracy, the world’s first machine gun became vitally important to protecting and expanding America’s overseas interests. Its inventor, Richard Gatling, was famous in his own time for creating and improving many industrial designs, from bicycles and steamship propellers to flush toilets. A man of great business and scientific acumen, Gatling actually proposed his gun as a way of saving lives, thinking it would decrease the size of armies and, therefore, make it easier to supply soldiers and reduce malnutrition deaths. The scientists who unleashed America’s atomic arsenal less than a century later would see it much the same way.
In Mr. Gatling’s Terrible Marvel, Julia Keller offers a riveting account of the Gatling gun’s invention, its misunderstood creator, and its tremendous impact on American and world events. She also shows how the gun, in its combination of ingenuity, idealism, and destructive power, perfectly exemplified the paradox of America’s rise as a world superpower.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
About the author
Julia Keller
29 books467 followersJulia was born and raised in Huntington, West Virginia. She graduated from Marshall University, then later earned a doctoral degree in English Literature at Ohio State University.
She was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University and has taught at Princeton and Ohio State Universities, and the University of Notre Dame. She is a guest essayist on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS and has been a contributor on CNN and NBC Nightly News. In 2005, she won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing.
Julia lives in a high-rise in Chicago and a stone cottage on a lake in rural Ohio.
She was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University and has taught at Princeton and Ohio State Universities, and the University of Notre Dame. She is a guest essayist on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS and has been a contributor on CNN and NBC Nightly News. In 2005, she won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing.
Julia lives in a high-rise in Chicago and a stone cottage on a lake in rural Ohio.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
February 8, 2015
Parts are better than the sum total
This is not a technical history about the Gatling gun. It's more of an extended essay about America in the 19th century and how inventors and creativity flourished during this century. The author uses Gatling's invention as a prime example of how America was turning out inventions that literally changed the way Humans do everything and how many of those inventors still effect us. In particular how war is waged which is probably one of Humanity's largest and most dramatic undertakings whether one likes it or not. It's a fast read and feels more like an extended op-ed piece rather than a full length book. However according to Julia Keller's biography she is an essayist so that explains much. Her style is very readable and high energy,but this isn't enough.
The main problem with this book ,and one that has been pointed out by other reviewers, is there are several times that the writer repeats herself. Sentences and paragraphs are recycled word for word. I found the exact same quote by Niall Ferguson twice for example. The book could easily be a few chapters less. All in all it needed a good editor.
I'm still giving it 3 stars because ,despite the weaknesses, it kept me turning the pages and held my interest. Perhaps the better way to describe "Mr. Gatling's Terrible Marvel" is the parts are better than the sum total. Not a terrible book ,far from it, but it should have received a little more attention before it was printed and shipped to the bookstores.
This is not a technical history about the Gatling gun. It's more of an extended essay about America in the 19th century and how inventors and creativity flourished during this century. The author uses Gatling's invention as a prime example of how America was turning out inventions that literally changed the way Humans do everything and how many of those inventors still effect us. In particular how war is waged which is probably one of Humanity's largest and most dramatic undertakings whether one likes it or not. It's a fast read and feels more like an extended op-ed piece rather than a full length book. However according to Julia Keller's biography she is an essayist so that explains much. Her style is very readable and high energy,but this isn't enough.
The main problem with this book ,and one that has been pointed out by other reviewers, is there are several times that the writer repeats herself. Sentences and paragraphs are recycled word for word. I found the exact same quote by Niall Ferguson twice for example. The book could easily be a few chapters less. All in all it needed a good editor.
I'm still giving it 3 stars because ,despite the weaknesses, it kept me turning the pages and held my interest. Perhaps the better way to describe "Mr. Gatling's Terrible Marvel" is the parts are better than the sum total. Not a terrible book ,far from it, but it should have received a little more attention before it was printed and shipped to the bookstores.
March 14, 2011
I really hate these bait-and-switch history books that promise a detailed look at some obscure but interesting subject, only to use that as a jumping off point for a more general history.
The history of the machine-gun is an expansive enough topic for an entire book, particularly its use as a tool of colonial oppression and slow metamorphosis into a weapon of "civilized" combat. In the Victorian era, machine-guns were seen as dirty pool, which was okay when fighting those pesky natives in Africa, but which no self-respecting European would use on his fellow white-man (well, maybe the Slavs. Possibly Wops and Greeks, too, but they don't really count as white). Then Archduke Ferdinand got himself shot in Sarajevo, and, well, time makes fools of us all. This is a fascinating subject that often gets retrospective coverage in histories of the First World War. A study of how the use of machine guns and public perception of them changed over time would make a great book. Alas, that's not what Keller gives us.
Oh, she covers all that, but in no more detail than you'd get from Barbara Tuchman or Niall Ferguson (both of whom she cites copiously (Ferguson haters be warned; she also cites Jared Diamond uncritically), suggesting that I'm reading a second-hand account of books I've already read). She also gives us a biography of Richard Gatling, but while she tells us what he did -- his early work inventing farm equipment, development of the Gatling gun, his difficulties selling it to the Union government, years spent improving the weapon so it wouldn't be supplanted by rivals -- she never gets inside his head, never reveals his personality. At one point she describes a machine he designed for planting seeds that sounds like it used principles later worked into the Gatling gun, but she doesn't draw a parallel, doesn't even try to explain where Gatling got his inspiration. Her account of his life is more like an itinerary than a diary.
But what's unforgivable about this book is that the history of the machine gun and biography of Gatling make up only half the narrative. The rest of the time she's sidetracked into dissertations on the history of the US Patent Office, or how steamboats spread smallpox -- both interesting subjects, but not what I picked up this book to read about. I wish historians would learn to pick a subject and focus on it.
The history of the machine-gun is an expansive enough topic for an entire book, particularly its use as a tool of colonial oppression and slow metamorphosis into a weapon of "civilized" combat. In the Victorian era, machine-guns were seen as dirty pool, which was okay when fighting those pesky natives in Africa, but which no self-respecting European would use on his fellow white-man (well, maybe the Slavs. Possibly Wops and Greeks, too, but they don't really count as white). Then Archduke Ferdinand got himself shot in Sarajevo, and, well, time makes fools of us all. This is a fascinating subject that often gets retrospective coverage in histories of the First World War. A study of how the use of machine guns and public perception of them changed over time would make a great book. Alas, that's not what Keller gives us.
Oh, she covers all that, but in no more detail than you'd get from Barbara Tuchman or Niall Ferguson (both of whom she cites copiously (Ferguson haters be warned; she also cites Jared Diamond uncritically), suggesting that I'm reading a second-hand account of books I've already read). She also gives us a biography of Richard Gatling, but while she tells us what he did -- his early work inventing farm equipment, development of the Gatling gun, his difficulties selling it to the Union government, years spent improving the weapon so it wouldn't be supplanted by rivals -- she never gets inside his head, never reveals his personality. At one point she describes a machine he designed for planting seeds that sounds like it used principles later worked into the Gatling gun, but she doesn't draw a parallel, doesn't even try to explain where Gatling got his inspiration. Her account of his life is more like an itinerary than a diary.
But what's unforgivable about this book is that the history of the machine gun and biography of Gatling make up only half the narrative. The rest of the time she's sidetracked into dissertations on the history of the US Patent Office, or how steamboats spread smallpox -- both interesting subjects, but not what I picked up this book to read about. I wish historians would learn to pick a subject and focus on it.
November 5, 2012
A very well researched book about this machine gun and its inventer.
March 18, 2022
I picked this non fiction book from a shelf of free books while on vacation and was pleased I took the time to read it. I really enjoyed the perspective of 19th century USA as the land of opportunity, a place that allowed “second chances” and rewarded enterprising individuals. I felt the author captured the energy of this amazing time that helped define the enduring culture and spirit of the USA. The story of Gatling was used more as an example of the successes and pitfalls of this complex era. Despite some repetitive narrative, I still found this a fascinating read and found I learned a few things too.
September 4, 2008
I've been duped! This book felt like a seven course meal but you had no idea which one was the main course. Relative to the title, the book mentions little about Mr. Gatling and his most famous invention. This book talks more about the environment and circumstances in which Mr. Gatling invents his machine gun. At times, it feels like the author is repeating herself. What saves this book from a one star rating is that some of the environment and circumstances are mildly interesting. For instance, the history behind the U.S. Patent system and the introduction of automation and mass production. Also, the book provides some insight into the mindset of the time. How some of the old timers in the U.S. Army resisted the idea of using a machine gun as it would remove much of the romance, honor and glory of individual combat in war.
The most interesting point is the fact that Mr. Gatling invented the Gatling gun to save lives rather than destroy them. Witnessing the massive casualties of the civil war, Gatling figured that by automating firepower, armies would not need to send so many men into battle and as a result less casualties, so the thinking goes. In the end, the Gatling gun became a symbol of oppression as police departments and factory owners added these weapons to their arsenal to be used against menacing mobs of protesters and strikers. Even the New York Times brandished several Gatlings in their office building to ward off an encroaching mob of angry readers. And don't forget the use of these weapons against native Indians in the U.S. It was mentioned that Custer was offered several Gatlings from the Army's procurement department before heading off into his last stand. He turned it down because he didn't think the weapons travel easily. If you have time to kill and have a deep interest in 19th century United States, then this book might be for you.
The most interesting point is the fact that Mr. Gatling invented the Gatling gun to save lives rather than destroy them. Witnessing the massive casualties of the civil war, Gatling figured that by automating firepower, armies would not need to send so many men into battle and as a result less casualties, so the thinking goes. In the end, the Gatling gun became a symbol of oppression as police departments and factory owners added these weapons to their arsenal to be used against menacing mobs of protesters and strikers. Even the New York Times brandished several Gatlings in their office building to ward off an encroaching mob of angry readers. And don't forget the use of these weapons against native Indians in the U.S. It was mentioned that Custer was offered several Gatlings from the Army's procurement department before heading off into his last stand. He turned it down because he didn't think the weapons travel easily. If you have time to kill and have a deep interest in 19th century United States, then this book might be for you.
July 6, 2013
If you are interested in the history of the gatling gun, you will find some of it here.
If you are looking for a biography of Richard Gatling, keep looking.
If you wonder how an inventor of farm equipment came to decide to work on a concept gun, you will get no explanation here.
One would think that an inventer of a "machine gun" would have spent hours shooting rifles and examining guns. There is no mention of Mr. Gatling ever touching a gun in this book prior to him coming out with his machine gun. Note too that there are few details of the gun itself other than general descriptions of it's workings and various models.
As mentioned in other reviews, it is a bait and switch book which seems to me to be a collection of op ed type pieces on the American West, the Civil War, philosophy, the politics of guns, war, re-imagined historic figures, river travel in the 1800's, and more. It is full of short, preachy, opinionated, repetitive soliloquy-like ramblings, written in an annoying, oft repeated sentence cadence or formula that found me getting so aggravated that I had to put the book down and relax for a time before continuing!
To be sure, there is some interesting stuff here, (be sure to read the part about the U.S. Patent Office and it's history) but I am not sure if it is all factual since portions of the story seem to be more on the order of historical fiction.
Not really worth the effort. Take it to the beach to prompt conversation or to use as a drink coaster.
If you are looking for a biography of Richard Gatling, keep looking.
If you wonder how an inventor of farm equipment came to decide to work on a concept gun, you will get no explanation here.
One would think that an inventer of a "machine gun" would have spent hours shooting rifles and examining guns. There is no mention of Mr. Gatling ever touching a gun in this book prior to him coming out with his machine gun. Note too that there are few details of the gun itself other than general descriptions of it's workings and various models.
As mentioned in other reviews, it is a bait and switch book which seems to me to be a collection of op ed type pieces on the American West, the Civil War, philosophy, the politics of guns, war, re-imagined historic figures, river travel in the 1800's, and more. It is full of short, preachy, opinionated, repetitive soliloquy-like ramblings, written in an annoying, oft repeated sentence cadence or formula that found me getting so aggravated that I had to put the book down and relax for a time before continuing!
To be sure, there is some interesting stuff here, (be sure to read the part about the U.S. Patent Office and it's history) but I am not sure if it is all factual since portions of the story seem to be more on the order of historical fiction.
Not really worth the effort. Take it to the beach to prompt conversation or to use as a drink coaster.
November 27, 2008
This is one strange book.
There are plenty of books about nineteenth century inventors and typically they have lots of social history that isn't directly connected with either the inventor or the invention - but here, in a 250 page book, the author doesn't get around to talking in much detail about either Gatling or his gun until 160 pages into it. The impression I had was that the author wasn't much interested in the nominal topics of the book.
In addition, presumably no one picks up a book like this to read unless he or she is interested in guns, at least a bit. The information about the technical aspects of what made a Gatling gun a Gatling are almost not presented.
There is an odd repetitiveness to this book. For example, the author says that the Gatling gun was often used not for war but to put down strikers or riots - this is brought up repeatedly but not ever discussed properly. There are other subjects that keep popping up but aren't dealth with well. The book doesn't seem very well organized.
The blurb says Julia Keller won a Pulitzer; presumably she can write better than this. Why did she write this book?
There are plenty of books about nineteenth century inventors and typically they have lots of social history that isn't directly connected with either the inventor or the invention - but here, in a 250 page book, the author doesn't get around to talking in much detail about either Gatling or his gun until 160 pages into it. The impression I had was that the author wasn't much interested in the nominal topics of the book.
In addition, presumably no one picks up a book like this to read unless he or she is interested in guns, at least a bit. The information about the technical aspects of what made a Gatling gun a Gatling are almost not presented.
There is an odd repetitiveness to this book. For example, the author says that the Gatling gun was often used not for war but to put down strikers or riots - this is brought up repeatedly but not ever discussed properly. There are other subjects that keep popping up but aren't dealth with well. The book doesn't seem very well organized.
The blurb says Julia Keller won a Pulitzer; presumably she can write better than this. Why did she write this book?
October 31, 2008
For a book that purports to be about an inventor and his gun, this book has surprisingly little to say about either. To be honest, I gave up about halfway through, because it was just too dull. So maybe the last half is a giddy romp through Mr. Gatlings madcap adventures, but I'll never know. The author seems to be trying to craft a book along the lines of the vastly superior "Devil in the White City," in which a central historical tale is used to motivate a more general discussion of the time period involved. But while "White City" kept the fascinating central events at the core of the story, "Mr. Gatling" seems largely unconcerned with the implicit promise of the title to talk about the gun. I wanted to learn about the engineering challenges and the development of the gatling gun, but the narrative pretty much starts after the gun is completed. The author also has an annoying anti-gun bias, where a neutral tone would seem far more appropriate.
Bottom line, you get the feeling the author has little interest in either Mr. Gatling or his invention. If you do, then I'd recommend finding a different book.
Bottom line, you get the feeling the author has little interest in either Mr. Gatling or his invention. If you do, then I'd recommend finding a different book.
October 14, 2008
One of the greatest disappointments of my year. How could a book about a crazed inventor and his quick-fire killing machine go so wrong. The beautiful cover is the best part of the book.
April 15, 2015
I'm not sure but I think this was supposed to be about the Gatling Gun. Occasionally that was mentioned.
October 20, 2021
Somehow I made it all the way to page 30 before relegating this to the much deserved Did Not Finish shelf. This author seems to have already had her mind made up about the irredeemable nature of guns in general, and the especially evil nature of machine guns in particular before she ever put pen to paper for this book.
The copy on the back cover should have clued me in as to what this book would truly be about, since it starts off with “The original weapon of mass destruction”. Shame on me for not having read it more closely.
Speaking about the gun industry in the mid 1800s, the author writes:
“Dealing in guns, a practice that today carries distinctly sinister overtones, had a different connotation then.”
That was the line that finally did it for me. It wasn’t the first propagandistic and patently false claim, either. Far from it. “The Gatling gun is a weapon of death, but it’s story is not altogether grim… A utilitarian device whose use came down to a chilling simplicity: death.”
“The Gatling gun thus became the indispensable tool of the racism implicit in Great Britain’s imperialist adventures. Cutting down row upon row of “natives” was fine, but such an ignominious fate would have been unthinkable for foes who looked like us.”
“The tension between America’s sunny conception of itself and the reality of its role in the modern world-the role of bully and enforcer-reverberates down to the present day. Military might is an essential component of the American dream; it is a component, however, that disturbs many Americans.”
“Few Americans, though, can readily or comfortably envision a lively, gun-toting Lincoln. They are more at home with the portrait of the thoughtful statesman, of the lean-cheeked orator intoning “Fourscore” with solemn gravity.”
I’ll leave it up to you to decide which side of history this author comes down on. It seems she leans more toward the egregiously rewritten version of history, which includes the 1619 project, critical race theory, defending the “mostly peaceful” protests of blm, and the wokeism that’s infecting EVERY facet of society rather than telling an accurate, historical story about an inventor and his mechanically genius invention called the Gatling gun.
If I wasn’t clear above, I consider this book to be complete and utter, historically inaccurate, anti-American propagandistic garbage. Its contents aren’t worth the paper contained between its covers.
The copy on the back cover should have clued me in as to what this book would truly be about, since it starts off with “The original weapon of mass destruction”. Shame on me for not having read it more closely.
Speaking about the gun industry in the mid 1800s, the author writes:
“Dealing in guns, a practice that today carries distinctly sinister overtones, had a different connotation then.”
That was the line that finally did it for me. It wasn’t the first propagandistic and patently false claim, either. Far from it. “The Gatling gun is a weapon of death, but it’s story is not altogether grim… A utilitarian device whose use came down to a chilling simplicity: death.”
“The Gatling gun thus became the indispensable tool of the racism implicit in Great Britain’s imperialist adventures. Cutting down row upon row of “natives” was fine, but such an ignominious fate would have been unthinkable for foes who looked like us.”
“The tension between America’s sunny conception of itself and the reality of its role in the modern world-the role of bully and enforcer-reverberates down to the present day. Military might is an essential component of the American dream; it is a component, however, that disturbs many Americans.”
“Few Americans, though, can readily or comfortably envision a lively, gun-toting Lincoln. They are more at home with the portrait of the thoughtful statesman, of the lean-cheeked orator intoning “Fourscore” with solemn gravity.”
I’ll leave it up to you to decide which side of history this author comes down on. It seems she leans more toward the egregiously rewritten version of history, which includes the 1619 project, critical race theory, defending the “mostly peaceful” protests of blm, and the wokeism that’s infecting EVERY facet of society rather than telling an accurate, historical story about an inventor and his mechanically genius invention called the Gatling gun.
If I wasn’t clear above, I consider this book to be complete and utter, historically inaccurate, anti-American propagandistic garbage. Its contents aren’t worth the paper contained between its covers.
August 1, 2022
An interesting profile of America in the 19th century, told within the context of Richard Gatling and the invention of his famous Gatling Gun. I expected this book to be a biography but Keller instead uses Gatling as her baseline to give a more general history of America in the second half of the 19th century. I enjoyed learning about Gatling the man and his unstoppable desire to create. It is incredible to think that inventors of this time not only needed to be extremely creative, but also possess a sharp business acumen in order to market and monetize their idea. I found the section on the American Civil War very interesting, as the army refused to adopt Gatling's technology despite its clear superiority over all other weapons at the time. Keller does go off topic several times in the book, and the attempts to tie these tangents back to Gatling felt like a stretch at times. Nevertheless, a solid 3 star read.
January 29, 2020
"Unforeseen consequences" is a phrase that plagues the majority of human innovations. 'Mr. Gatling's Terrible Marvel' tries to tell the story of Richard Gatling (and his world changing invention of the gatling gun) through this lens, with varying results. Keller is able to paint, quite vividly, life in the 19th-Century for creators pushing to make the next world changing invention. While sometimes the book can get too caught up in its own world building, in disservice of focusing on its central subject (Gatling and his revolutionary gun), it however does do a good job in showing how our creations can become something that they were never intended to be.
February 10, 2020
I could not get past the intro, which is full of inaccuracies and glittering generalizations. According to the author, the Gatling depersonalized and industrialized killing and marks a great sea change in warfare, but those changes happened much earlier with the perfection of field artillery or somewhat later with the introduction of smokeless powder and true automatic machine guns, depending on how you want to mark those changes. The Gatling gun and its many competitors were never widespread enough or effective enough to be anything but a mechanical curiosity and an interesting precursor to the Maxims, Hotchkisses etc. of the Great War.
January 14, 2019
I thought it was an interesting book though there was not as much on the actual subject as I expected. Whilst some of the other topics do help to provide context, there could have been more about Gatling himself and his invention. Worth a read though
July 23, 2024
Made it through two chapters then had to put it down.
Endless repetition and lack of focus in the writing that made the book irritating to read. Seemly poorly researched and that my time would be better spent reading about the topic on Wikipedia.
Endless repetition and lack of focus in the writing that made the book irritating to read. Seemly poorly researched and that my time would be better spent reading about the topic on Wikipedia.
October 16, 2017
This book was interesting but at times it was a little slow.
November 2, 2017
There is a great sense of context and history and contemporary applications.
August 22, 2019
I read this for my non-fiction book club. I did not really enjoy it. I was expecting more of a biography about Mr. Gatling.
October 11, 2020
More of an extended exploration of the American Industrial Revolution than a biography about Richard Gatling. That being said, an interesting read; a thoroughly researched and well written book.
November 22, 2021
Almost no technical details.The book focuses heavily on the political effects of modern weapons.Sometimes to the point of repetition.
November 2, 2022
The book is about the Gatling gun but also about all that was going on at the same time in the United States.
May 22, 2017
This book was interesting, but it was really three books in one.
Part of the book concentrated on the US Patent System, and how it was different from the rest of the world, and how it spurred innovation and the Industrial Revolution. Very fascinating and I see where it helped the Gatling Gun, but it went on for a third of the book or more.
The next part of the book was about the Lyceum movement, which I got bored with pretty quickly, but also understood how it helped the Gatling Gun's progress.
The smallest part of the book is about Gatling himself and his gun, which is unfortunate. But, It appears there isn't much direct sources about Gatling and the family, most of it appears to only exist as it pertains to his development of the gun.
I would have liked the book better if the two non-gatling sections were reduced in size.
Part of the book concentrated on the US Patent System, and how it was different from the rest of the world, and how it spurred innovation and the Industrial Revolution. Very fascinating and I see where it helped the Gatling Gun, but it went on for a third of the book or more.
The next part of the book was about the Lyceum movement, which I got bored with pretty quickly, but also understood how it helped the Gatling Gun's progress.
The smallest part of the book is about Gatling himself and his gun, which is unfortunate. But, It appears there isn't much direct sources about Gatling and the family, most of it appears to only exist as it pertains to his development of the gun.
I would have liked the book better if the two non-gatling sections were reduced in size.
August 17, 2009
I’ve been keen to read this book for a while, as its title and day-glo cover beckoned me each time I walked by the bookstore. And then, glory, I found the hardcover for $9 on a back table at the local discount bookstore (where they were selling the trade paperback for $12 up front). The book is pretty great, but no quite as good as its cover. Keller tells two stories: the biography of Richard Gatling, the amateur inventor who patented a bunch of stuff, the most successful being the Gatling gun, and the story of America in the 19th century, its hopes and dreams, its attitudes and people. Some thoughts:
* Keller finds lots of great nuggets and quotes in the various histories she pulls from. She tells a fantastic anecdote about a British gunsmith who used to invite visitors to demolish the 5-acre woodland around his house with his machine guns. And then there’s my favorite line from the book, in an editorial exhorting troops to treat their enemies to “a little Gatling music.”
* Gatling invented his gun in a fit of (naive) humanism — he thought the vicious nature of the gun would reduce casualties, as troops would refuse to fight against the odds created by the gun (which, in its earliest incarnation, could shoot 200 rounds a minute). In this aspect, he was partly right: Gatlings were regularly used as threats against rioters and unarmed mobs.
* Keller explains that Gatlings also played a strong role as the iron fist of racism and colonial practices in the last half of the 19th century. The British, particularly, saw the Gatling as a dishonorable weapon, unfit for gentlemanly war. War with savages, on the other hand….
* There’s a fascinating chapter about the change in attitude automatic weapons demanded in world war 1. Whereas war used to be about valor and individual glory–or rather, we told ourselves it was about those things–with the invention of the Gatling, war changed. The militaries quick to realize this did much better early in the war than did those slower on the uptake.
* Among the threads Keller weaves about the U.S. as a whole, my favorite was her paean to the patent system, designed with a low entry cost focused on giving upstart inventors the same benefits as the wealthy. She suggests that early patents made the world what it was.
* The photos inside are excellent, especially the one of Lincoln in front of his troops.
There were a couple things about the book I didn’t like, though.
* While Keller pulls some very entertaining chestnuts from her research, the writing itself is a bit dry for my taste. I’m not completely sure what about it didn’t work for me, except…
* Keller repeats themes a bit too much. Sometimes, she’ll introduce an idea, spend a couple pages on it, and then use that same phrase as she moves onto her next point. It’s a small conceit, but it bugged me.
Overall, it’s a good read, especially for folks interested in the constant intertwining of technology, society, and war.
* Keller finds lots of great nuggets and quotes in the various histories she pulls from. She tells a fantastic anecdote about a British gunsmith who used to invite visitors to demolish the 5-acre woodland around his house with his machine guns. And then there’s my favorite line from the book, in an editorial exhorting troops to treat their enemies to “a little Gatling music.”
* Gatling invented his gun in a fit of (naive) humanism — he thought the vicious nature of the gun would reduce casualties, as troops would refuse to fight against the odds created by the gun (which, in its earliest incarnation, could shoot 200 rounds a minute). In this aspect, he was partly right: Gatlings were regularly used as threats against rioters and unarmed mobs.
* Keller explains that Gatlings also played a strong role as the iron fist of racism and colonial practices in the last half of the 19th century. The British, particularly, saw the Gatling as a dishonorable weapon, unfit for gentlemanly war. War with savages, on the other hand….
* There’s a fascinating chapter about the change in attitude automatic weapons demanded in world war 1. Whereas war used to be about valor and individual glory–or rather, we told ourselves it was about those things–with the invention of the Gatling, war changed. The militaries quick to realize this did much better early in the war than did those slower on the uptake.
* Among the threads Keller weaves about the U.S. as a whole, my favorite was her paean to the patent system, designed with a low entry cost focused on giving upstart inventors the same benefits as the wealthy. She suggests that early patents made the world what it was.
* The photos inside are excellent, especially the one of Lincoln in front of his troops.
There were a couple things about the book I didn’t like, though.
* While Keller pulls some very entertaining chestnuts from her research, the writing itself is a bit dry for my taste. I’m not completely sure what about it didn’t work for me, except…
* Keller repeats themes a bit too much. Sometimes, she’ll introduce an idea, spend a couple pages on it, and then use that same phrase as she moves onto her next point. It’s a small conceit, but it bugged me.
Overall, it’s a good read, especially for folks interested in the constant intertwining of technology, society, and war.
April 1, 2016
I was curious to read a book about a major technological development and the man who invented it. Especially by an author who is the winner of the Pulitzer Prize. The book is full of detail about the almost serendipitous invention and development of the first practical machine gun ( as a side note I think it would have been a better book if there had been more technical drawings as to why it worked and how but I realize that was not the author's intent ) and the man who invented it. The parallels to the struggles the Wright brothers had in trying to sell their new technology to the established military thinking is evident in the same experiences Gatling had as well. I would note it took another 20 (60 for the Gatling ) years before the two innovative technologies were combined to create a killing machine dueling over the skies of France in the First World War, and one of them on the ground where further development of Gatling's initial concept resulted in wholesale slaughter of men. An event the inventor hoped to avoid by creating a machine that would deter just the opposite. A machine so intimidating wars would not start. I understand why the author explored multiple themes of placing Gatling's invention in the context of the Industrial Revolution, Manifest Destiny, Empires, military procurement but I found some of these side roads so long and at times "preachy" ( it seemed sometimes she wrote just because she could and became enamored with how well she could write and the research she did...a bit harsh observation but I think somewhat justified ) but they became a distraction for me. The book would have been better with better editing in those areas. Still, a book I would recommend.
July 8, 2008
Richard J. Gatling invented the world’s first successful machine gun hoping its terrible destructive firepower would quickly and humanely end the American Civil War. This particular hope was never truly tested because no Gatling guns were bought by Abraham Lincoln’s Ordnance Office but the Gatling gun’s “hopeful” promise was tested elsewhere on other battlefields around the world. Author Julia Keller argues that Gatling’s hope in war-ending firepower and the military’s resistance to using it characterize the unforeseen “sorting out” of the man and the 19th century’s Industrial Age of mass manufacture and developing mass markets. Mr. Gatling’s Terrible Marvel is the story of a man of genius propelling and being propelled by the 19th century’s tradition-busting lurch into the Machine Age.
Richard Gatling and his machine gun, says Keller, is a vivid case study of the 19th century‘s massive “sorting out” of the transition of America and other advanced nations from agriculture, piecemeal craftsmanship, and individual dignity to industry, mass manufacture and depersonalized mass markets and culture. Gatling’s individual “sorting out” reflects and affects this transition. Gatling and the rest of the world learn the rudiments of “progress”: marketing, interchangeability of parts, assembly lines, and cheap accessible patents (the American patent system). The world also learns the price of “progress”: depersonalization, growth of a large labor class, increased tension between labor and management, and Gatling gun-enabled racist empire-building. America in particular, says Keller, begins during this era of “progress” its long ponder of what it means to be a superpower.
Richard Gatling and his machine gun, says Keller, is a vivid case study of the 19th century‘s massive “sorting out” of the transition of America and other advanced nations from agriculture, piecemeal craftsmanship, and individual dignity to industry, mass manufacture and depersonalized mass markets and culture. Gatling’s individual “sorting out” reflects and affects this transition. Gatling and the rest of the world learn the rudiments of “progress”: marketing, interchangeability of parts, assembly lines, and cheap accessible patents (the American patent system). The world also learns the price of “progress”: depersonalization, growth of a large labor class, increased tension between labor and management, and Gatling gun-enabled racist empire-building. America in particular, says Keller, begins during this era of “progress” its long ponder of what it means to be a superpower.
December 22, 2009
Interesting take on the man who invented (arguably) the first machine gun to be used in war. Surprisingly, for a book touted to be about the man's invention, there's not a great deal of material in this book *about* the actual gatling gun and how it was used in war. Richard Gatling comes across as an affable, hard working and inspired man who had an eventful career-- yet we don't see all that much of him. Instead, the book is a broad sweep through late 19th century history of technology. One point of interest that I found amusing were the remarks by the head of ordinance during the American Civil War. He comes off as a dry and humorless chap, the "visual embodiment of the word NO" and yet, he says (to the effect) it is not enough to have a brilliant invention that works as a prototype-- will it hold up to battle conditions? Can the design be manufactured so that identical copies with identical quality standards will be made again and again? Is the weapon remotely affordable under these conditions? Fascinating-- remove the florid 19th century prose, and you are asking questions that Congress asks DoD every day in the 21st century. In any event, Mr. Gatling's Terrible Marvel was a good, not great read-- I was amused and interested by Ms. Keller's prose style but I did not learn much from it that I did not already know, except some inforemation about the inventor's personal life. Not a bad read.
June 6, 2011
This book describes the life and times of Richard Gatling. He was born into a slave holding family in North Carolina, but moved west to seek his fortune. Gatling was always a tinkerer and inventor. He had many patents and devices including seed drills and steam plows. He was moved by the carnage of the Civil War to invent his gun in the hopes it would reduce the size of armies. Keller uses his story to frame the times and describe how free spirited American inventors, driven by idealism to improve mankind, AND turn a profit, shaped the American dream. She also emphasizes the role of the U.S. patent office in this enterprise. Jefferson set it up so it was cheap and easy to patent ideas and devices, unlike the case in Europe where the expense left the field only to the rich. Also brought out is how the machinegun reshaped the western world’s view of war. The efficient slaughter by the machine wiped gallant single combat right off the map. There is a lot of interesting ideas and information in this book. However, the book is not well written and in particular is internally very redundant as the author goes over the same ground multiple times.
May 8, 2014
I've got agree with what seems to be the primary criticism of this book -- it's disjointed and although a strict chronological path is not required in "narrative non-fiction," it does help for those not thoroughly acquainted with the period.
Unlike some reviewers, though, I wasn't too perturbed by this -- it's just the author's conversational style. The only thing that really bothered me about how the book was "organized" -- and I use the word loosely -- was the repetition -- she repeated notions and even whole phrases, as if she'd lost track of what she'd already said, or didn't trust the reader to retain stuff. Whatever the reason, it was a little distracting and made the reader go back to confirm it wasn't simply something like early onset Alzheimer's.
Overall, for a neophyte in 19th century history, this is not recommended. For people with some background in the time and place, I moderately recommend it. If you're looking for more on the Gatling gun, especially if you're interested in its tactical deployment, the wheres and whens of that, you'll have to look elsewhere.
Unlike some reviewers, though, I wasn't too perturbed by this -- it's just the author's conversational style. The only thing that really bothered me about how the book was "organized" -- and I use the word loosely -- was the repetition -- she repeated notions and even whole phrases, as if she'd lost track of what she'd already said, or didn't trust the reader to retain stuff. Whatever the reason, it was a little distracting and made the reader go back to confirm it wasn't simply something like early onset Alzheimer's.
Overall, for a neophyte in 19th century history, this is not recommended. For people with some background in the time and place, I moderately recommend it. If you're looking for more on the Gatling gun, especially if you're interested in its tactical deployment, the wheres and whens of that, you'll have to look elsewhere.
November 1, 2011
I was generous giving this book a single star. I love books that are about the people and times but as one person called this book, “it is a bait and switch book”. It had almost nothing about Gatling nor his gun in the first two chapters (as far as I could read). The book is filled with small self righteous sermons and pontifications. It is filled with arterial divergences and reminds me of a fractal, redundant and repetitive. The odd phrasing is meant as art I am sure but NO Yoda is she. I am sure that she was paid on the basis of word count, awkward phrasing, and the use of odd modifiers used in non-traditional manner. I guess the disappointment I feel serves me right since I attempted to read a simple historical account that was written by a Dr. of Literature. In the meantime does anyone know of a good book about Gatling?
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