''Tommy Gun: How General Thompson's Submachine Gun Wrote History'' is a non-fiction book written by

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

author Bill Yenne in 2009. The book traces the history of the

Thompson submachine gun The Thompson submachine gun (also known as the "Tommy gun", "Chicago typewriter", or "trench broom") is a blowback-operated, selective-fire submachine gun, invented and developed by Brigadier General John T. Thompson, a United States Arm ...

, also known as the Tommy gun, through its usage in warfare, organised crime, and subsequently, its presence in film and television, as an "immortal icon."

Background

''Tommy Gun'' details the development of the Thompson submachine gun, created by

John T. Thompson John Taliaferro Thompson (December 31, 1860 – June 21, 1940) was a United States Army officer known for being the inventor of the Tommy gun. Early life Born on December 31, 1860, in Newport, Kentucky, Thompson grew up on a succession of Army p ...

towards the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and the reasons that made it an attractive weapon to the

Mafia "Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Sicilian Mafia, original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other Organized crime in Italy, organiz ...

during the

Prohibition era Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacturing, manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption ...

, and the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

, who adopted it during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Reception

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' described ''Tommy Gun'' as an "in-depth, entertaining history of the legendary weapon", and praised the attention given to the technical details of the weapon, alongside the "meticulous" overview of 20th century small arms. Richard Carleton Hacker of ''Shooting Illustrated'' called it a "must read." ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'' writer Jesse Berrett was more critical, saying that the book was "entertaining in spots", but criticised it for being "

anecdotal Anecdotal evidence (or anecdata) is evidence based on descriptions and reports of individual, personal experiences, or observations, collected in a non- systematic manner. The term ''anecdotal'' encompasses a variety of forms of evidence. This ...

to a fault. It poses no argument, offers no political perspective, and worse, endorses no principle of selection; ultimately the lack of analysis, or direction, grows frustrating." Though Berrett praised the "astonishing range" of photographs, he said that "Yenne loves his subject so much that his perspective blurs when he raises his eyes", resulting in a "frustratingly apolitical" work.

References

*"Tommy Gun: How General Thompson's Submachine Gun Wrote History"; Yenne, Bill. {{ISBN, 978-0-312-38326-8. St. Martin's Press. New York. 2009. 2009 non-fiction books American history books Firearm books Thomas Dunne Books books