The name Christopher Spencer might not ring a bell, but let's put it with other names from the same business: Colt, Winchester, Remington, and Smith & Wesson. So, guns.
Spencer created an early lever-action repeating rifle, part of the flock of 19th century firearm creations that cemented the growing United States to the gun business.
Lawyer-turned journalist John Bainbridge, Jr. examines that cementing process--fact and myth--in his book Gun Barons: The Weapons That Transformed America and the Men Who Invented Them.
The author joins us for an overview of an enormous chapter in American history, one that is still being written.