{"product_id":"9781250115409","title":"Tommy: The Gun That Changed America","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe 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\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJohn 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. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCritically-acclaimed author Karen Blumenthal, author of \u003ci\u003eBootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition, Hillary Rodham Clinton: A Woman Living History,\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eSix Days in October: The Stock Market Crash of 1929\u003c\/i\u003e, 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 \u003ci\u003eTommy: The Gun That Changed America\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePraise for Tommy: The Gun that Changed America:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“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.” —\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e, starred review\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“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.'” —\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e, starred review\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"St. Martins Press-3PL","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47024513974512,"sku":"9781250115409","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781250115409_p0.jpg?v=1763702606","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781250115409","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}