{"product_id":"tommy-the-gun-that-changed-america-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\u003e\u003c\/p\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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003ePraise for Tommy: The Gun that Changed America: \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\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 \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\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\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Square Fish\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/01\/2017\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781250115409\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 240\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.80lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.90h x 5.90w x 0.50d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAccelerated Reader Quiz #\/Name: \u003c\/b\u003e175610 \/ Tommy: The Gun That Changed America\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReading Level:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.3 \/ \u003cb\u003eInterest Level:\u003c\/b\u003e Middle Grade \/ \u003cb\u003ePoint Value:\u003c\/b\u003e 6\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Karen Blumenthal","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":36648599748764,"sku":"9781250115409","price":15.29,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_efc2173c-f2f0-44d8-b336-edb73e8a3c8c.jpg?v=1603870511","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/tommy-the-gun-that-changed-america-9781250115409","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}