Hi,
I visited the exhibit back in the summer and just got the book. I really like the photos and the guns depicted in the book. However, the text leaves a lot to be desired. It will definitely raise Erik K's blood pressure. Most of the descriptions about British guns and muskets are rubbish. Clearly, the author has not kept up to date with current scholarship on that subject. Whenever anyone describes Brown Besses by models realize they have not kept pace with the history of those guns. Moreover, the Royal Armory Museum published a well sourced paper on the name "Brown Bess" but the Rock Ford book author did not bother updating his knowledge and perpetuated old myths. The description of the battle of King's Mountain as a clash between the Ferguson rifle and Dickert rifles is laughable. Whether you believe a few Ferguson rifles were used at King's Mountain, which is not supported by any unambiguous evidence, or not, to describe the battle as patriots armed with Dickert rifles versus loyalists armed with Ferguson rifles is patently absurd. The author also perpetuates the unsubstantiated story of Timothy Murphy at Bemis Heights and the notion that Dan Morgan ordered Murphy specifically to shoot General Frazer. There is no substantiated documentation that Morgen specifically ordered Murphy to do anything or even knew who he was, and there are no muster rolls that even verify Murphy was at Saratoga. His wife never mentioned his service at Saratoga in her Rev War pension application although she described his other service. The sloppiness of the scholarship about the topics I mentioned casts a pall on the entire work as a reliable historical accounting. The selection of guns was very nice and the photos are excellent, not complete enough for a gun maker, but useful nonetheless. It is worth the money just be skeptical or ignore the text.
dave
