Hemingway's Guns

A writer, editor, and publisher for more than 30 years, Silvio Calabi lives on the coast of Maine and hunts around the world. Roger Sanger, from California and Idaho, is an aficionado of fine guns and the founder of the California Side By Side Society. Steve Helsley, also from California, is a consultant to the National Rifle Association and a firearms historian and photographer. They have collaborated on many articles for shooting magazines and they founded and produced the Gold Medal Concours d'Elegance of Fine Guns and the Western Side By Side Championships.

• Hemingway’s Guns — A ForewordIntroductionA Firearms VocabularyThe Cuban ConnectionThe Model 12 PumpgunsGuns for Girls & Boys—the .410sWinchester Model 21 ShotgunsTwo Browning SuperposedsBrowning Automatic ShotgunsA Pair & a Single—Merkel Over/UndersThe Beretta S3 Over/UnderThe Griffin & Howe .30-06 SpringfieldMannlicher-Schoenauer RiflesThe .577 Nitro Express (& Other Double Rifles)All Those Colt .22 PistolsWinchester & Other .22 RiflesA Thompson Submachine GunA Big-Bore Mauser, or TwoThe W. & C. Scott & Son Pigeon GunVarious: Adamy, Darne, Springfield, Arrizabalaga, “Alba” et al.More Questions, AlwaysWith GratitudeCitationsBibliography

This intriguing book is effectively a biography of Ernest Hemingway, told through his extensive collection of shotguns, rifles and pistols. Unsurprisingly for a man who served in the First World War and was an embedded reporter during the Second World War, Hemingway's life was one of excitement and action. The three authors reveal Hemingway owned many guns, which in many ways defined his life and death. For example, an early anecdote informs the reader Hemingway was taught to shoot when he was just two-and-a-half years old, and was able to shoot a pistol by the time he was four. Though written for the American market, those with an interest in firearms of all types and the man himself will find much of interest within these 184 pages. There are over 100 photographs of Hemingway, his family and his collection from various archives, including some particularly hair-raising photographs of the great author shooting cigarettes from his associates' mouths and hands with rifles.