The Best Gun in the World

"The Best Gun in the World succeeds in raising the profile of an important but neglected figure in world firearms history. Richly illustrated with photographs and meticulously rendered drawings of all kinds, the volume also thoroughly documents the features and technical details of Morse's many inventions and explains how they influenced later designs."—Civil War Books and Authors

"Collectors of Civil War firearms have long admired the breech-loading carbines produced at the State Military Works. Until now no serious scholar has produced an in-depth study of the evolution of Morse's system. Bob Seigler's book is just such a study, using archival and manuscript sources, along with the study of the weapons themselves, to produce the definitive evaluation of Morse's contributions to firearms technology. This book belongs in the library of every serious student of firearms development."—Jack Allen Meyer, author and military historian

"Robert Seigler's excellent and well-researched book on George Morse and the State Military Works examines a local and little-known aspect of South Carolina's Civil War history and demonstrates its relationship to larger issues of technological innovation, Southern war-time industrialism, and the development of the modern firearm and cartridge."—Patrick McCawley, South Carolina Department of Archives and History

"For connoisseurs and scholars of military history (especially Civil War), history of technology, or Southern/South Carolina history, this is a must-read and reference volume pertaining to a previously little-known aspect of the nineteenth century that had a far-reaching impact in the manner wars would be fought by soldiers decades later."—Barry L. Stiefel, College of Charleston

"Seigler's well-written and exhaustively researched book finally does justice to one of the greatest stories in American firearms history. If George Woodward Morse had not sided with the Confederacy, his name might be as famous today as Colt or Winchester."—Gordon L. Jones, Atlanta History Center