Reddit reviews The American Revolution: A History (Modern Library Chronicles)
We found 4 Reddit comments about The American Revolution: A History (Modern Library Chronicles). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Modern Library
I'm a graduate student of history, and I'd recommend a book my undergraduate adviser had me read. If you aren't happy with the wiki, I do have a recommendation. Gordon Woods modern history of the revolution is a good social history of how people thought about the revolution, before during and after. He shows where they disagreed and why we ended up with the form of government and political culture that we did.
https://www.amazon.com/American-Revolution-History-Library-Chronicles/dp/0812970411
Response 2 - part 2
> In the tragic case in your town, do you think the woman, if armed, could have shot three men?
I am interested in your assessment of what should have been done instead. Those aggressors were (arguably) kids. As my statistics suggest, most people flee when faced with an armed victim. If not immediately, they'll almost certainly do so once the victim opens fire and they watch one of their friends shot before their eyes. Just because there isn't a 100% chance of her avoiding gang rape, she should just not resist?
Edit: I just want to add to this: multiple invaders are shot/repelled by a single victim with a gun all the time. Source 1, source 2, and many more can be Googled. Also, after viewing the videos of the two men, Keanu and Jerry, participating in firearms sports with great speed and precision, how can you doubt that some people have the skill to place precise rounds on multiple targets in very short time frames? Jerry Miculek once again shows that a practiced individual can engage multiple targets. Obviously he is a master of his craft but I can tell you from personal experience that many, many people who train with their guns can accurately and consistently engage multiple targets in mere seconds.
> Likewise, though a gun might have been able to help, unless you carry a gun to the door or have one on the wall by the door
We run the risk of descending into the endless quicksand of "what if" scenarios. However, I can give you my strategy for my own protection. At night, I keep my personal defense firearm within arm's reach and leave my exterior lights on. During the day, I spend much of my time working from home and therefore keep my firearm generally within arm's reach, although I undoubtedly feel safer in broad daylight in my own home. When I answer the door, I do not touch the lock until I have looked through a window and the peephole in the door. When/if I do answer it, I have my gun in a holster, concealed. When I leave the house, I carry the same gun concealed, in a holster. The vast majority of self-defense in any form is situational awareness and I very consciously practice this discipline. Many responsible gun owners do the same. Does this make me invincible? Certainly not. Security is always a balance between practicality and security and I have chosen the ratio with which I feel most comfortable for my own life. I have the right to take measures to protect myself, no matter how likely or unlikely I am to suffer a threat to my life.
> Much as I hope your grandmother would be able to scare off invaders, she might have to have a gun on her person at all times in the house to be able to access it in case of an emergency.
See my previous paragraph. Many people do wear a small pistol throughout the day, especially weaker individuals or those who have been the victim of a traumatic attack in the past. Again, this applies inside and outside the home. I see no problem with this if it is what the individual wants to do.
> the only examples given were from 1981 and 1983, and regardless of what the law said, those were both criminal negligence, and anomalous cases
Do you think these types of incidents stopped in 1986? We're not talking about stale statistical data here. The point wasn't the stories. The stories were simply illustrations of worst-case scenarios. The point was that, regardless of your or my personal opinions on the law and its rulings, that is the way things work and so you're better off admitting it and preparing for it. The UK has similar precedent in practice, even if it's not as explicitly worded as the US cases.
> It may not seem very reassuring, but I still honestly believe that the police will come.
That is completely your right! That same freedom to make individual choices, that freedom that I will defend with my life, allows you to make that determination for you and your family and I do not fault you for that in the least. The only time I begin to fault you is when you start try to decide that others should think and act as you do. Personally, "believe" is too weak for me to risk my life. I prefer to use raw logic, seek out scientific evidence and statistics, and choose the path for myself and my family with the greatest probability of success.
This is related to police response time. Sure the police will probably eventually come, but when? Don't forget all the news articles I cited about aggressors shooting their victims even after full compliance.
There is much more data out there. So with this wild variance in times based on department, time of day, time of year, and random variables, picture your scenario: You need the police. When you need the police because you fear for your safety, you need them now. Assuming you could get a call out, what could an attacker do to you or your wife in seven minutes? Ten? Twenty? An hour? Remember all the variables involved: is he stronger, is he armed, are there multiple attackers? Again, if you feel comfortable risking your life with the police response time for given scenario, then by all means, do so. Do not try to force everyone else to accept the risks and to hope for the best-case police response in their time of need. On a related note, I also keep a fire extinguisher in my house.
> However, no matter how good you are, you can make mistakes. A gun is still an imperfect weapon, and a lot can go wrong.
True, but you agreed that odds are still better than with the other options. Again, I want the best tool to preserve innocent life. Additionally, I keep my firearms in pristine condition, I train hard with them, and generally make every effort to minimize failures. The only thing I haven't done is inject myself with a massive dose of adrenaline and made the attempt to measure my weapon handling skills and accuracy. What I have done, though, is to train regularly. When fight-or-flight instinct takes over, training kicks in. Make it second-nature, and your training will serve you well. When Star Trek phasers are invented and I can set mine to "stun," I'll most likely use that instead. Until such a reliable model becomes available, I'm sticking to the best option I have, at least for self-defense.
> looting and violence would be accentuated by every angry civilian having a gun.
Again, I'm worried about the law-abiding and the innocent. With that in mind: "Anger" does not imply irrationality and psychopathy, with every emotionally-perturbed individual running amok, bent on indiscriminate destruction. Additionally, who is to say that "everyone will have a gun?" Statistically this is not the case and is closer to hyperbole. What if no one has guns? How will families protect themselves and/or their livelihoods? One family (a man, a woman, and two young children) cannot hope to stand much of a chance against two men, for example, who, intent on using the temporary disruption in social structure, kick down the family's door, and beat the husband to death with baseball bats. Again, guns are equalizers. Historically, such things as riots (source 1, source 2) provide us, as observers, with some idea of how it all goes down.
> few of which can be beaten by mere force, such as the current rise of the plutocracy
Force is a last resort. Of course plutocracy can be beaten by force as can any kind of government. Any living thing can. In a worst-case scenario, we would see a modern-day equivalent of the French Revolution or the American Revolution in which the populace, after having tried every legal recourse to get the government or ruling bodies to address their grievances, turns to the only other solution available: force. A plutocracy is exactly what those two revolutions toppled. I genuinely believe that, if you haven't already, you need to read the book The American Revolution: A History by Gordon S. Wood. The more I think about it, the more I am confused by your statement. I would be interested in hearing your rationale for why a plutocracy could not be defeated though force.
I've got three books that would be pretty good. If you only read one, I would suggest the last one that I've listed. It focuses on US history after WWII. Not gonna lie, but most people in the US don't seem to care about much from events earlier than, oh, Desert Storm. This will give you a good idea of what has lead up to things more recent.
First is "That's Not in My American History Book" http://www.amazon.com/Thats-Not-American-History-Book/dp/158979107X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406744669&sr=8-1&keywords=thats+not+in+my+history+book
Second is "Lies my Teachers Told Me"
http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/0743296281/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1406744669&sr=8-2&keywords=thats+not+in+my+history+book
Lastly: American Dreams: The United States Since 1945
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143119559/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Bonus books:
American Revolution:
http://www.amazon.com/The-American-Revolution-History-Chronicles/dp/0812970411/ref=pd_sim_b_14?ie=UTF8&refRID=1QADK50FADAGE3XG7JGE
Civil War:
http://www.amazon.com/Civil-War-Curiosities-Oddities-Coincidences/dp/155853315X/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1406745439&sr=1-6&keywords=US+Civil+War+books
Edit: This is a monster looking book, but it is visual as well. (Okay it is a monster book) but it touches on nearly everything. I've used it as a reference multiple times during college and Kurin is fairly spot on with his assessments.
http://www.amazon.com/Smithsonians-History-America-101-Objects/dp/1594205299/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1406745533&sr=1-1&keywords=a+smithsonian+book+of+history
I highly recommend The American Revolution: A History by Gordon S. Wood.