When a modern-day construction worker unearths skeletal remains beneath a gigantic boulder, the story of a unique and fascinating journey through history begins. The only real clue to the puzzle is a saddle and a rifle-still intact-clutched in the desiccated bones of what was once a man's hand. The rifle, a Winchester Repeating Arms 1873, is a specially made "one of one thousand," which sold for more than five-times the cost of a standard Winchester rifle. From the New York shop where it was originally sold new, this particular rifle begins its amazing and volatile journey across America in a story like no other. Travel back in time when a Belgian immigrant arrives and is just hours into the New World when he purchases the rifle. Journey with the gun as it ultimately passes through the hands of eight owners, each with their own story of the firearm and their unique and individual adventures in the Wild West. Before being unearthed more than a century later, this rifle will have traversed the early West in a remarkable story unlike anything readers are likely to have before encountered.

In the study and appreciation of American history, and in understanding the crucial role played by firearms in that extraordinary saga, one of the most famous gunmakers is Winchester. Their products are so much in demand that they indisputably hold the title of the Blue Chips of gun collecting. And while a notable amount of literature on these marques has appeared in print, much of it from the period of post-World War II, there are still major categories which demand focused books. Such works are in response not only to the "need to know" from students, historians and collectors, but also are a powerful reflection of the ever-expanding explosion of interest in the magical world of firearms. The study of arms is a highly visual, and technical, pursuit. Having the objects sitting on a page, as if they are on the reader's desk, is a true delight. Few photographers can equal those images of excellence. And no one today can match his combination of skill, aptitude and artistry at doing both text and photographs

'Bracingly apocalyptic stuff: atmospheric, chock-full of information and with a constantly escalating sense of pace and tension' Sunday Telegraph Simon Winchester's brilliant chronicle of the destruction of the Indonesian island of Krakatoa in 1883 charts the birth of our modern world. He tells the story of the unrecognized genius who beat Darwin to the discovery of evolution; of Samuel Morse, his code and how rubber allowed the world to talk; of Alfred Wegener, the crack-pot German explorer and father of geology. In breathtaking detail he describes how one island and its inhabitants were blasted out of existence and how colonial society was turned upside-down in a cataclysm whose echoes are still felt to this day.

"Stuart's edited reminiscences are an account of pioneering, prospecting, and community building in the northern Rockies and Great Plains."--BOOK JACKET.

A comprehensive and detailed history of Winchester firearms and ammunition includes photographs of hundreds of models