American Gunfight

The Plot to Kill Harry Truman and the Shoot-Out That Stopped It

By: Stephen Hunter, John Bainbridge

Narrated by: John H. Mayer

AMERICAN GUNFIGHT is the fast-paced, definitive, and breathtakingly suspenseful account of an extraordinary historical event–the attempted assassination of President Harry Truman in November of 1950 by two Puerto Rican Nationalists and the bloody shoot-out in the streets of Washington, D.C., that saved the president's life.

Written by Pulitzer Prize-winner Stephen Hunter and John Bainbridge, Jr., an experienced journalist and lawyer, AMERICAN GUNFIGHT is at once a groundbreaking work of meticulous historical research and the vivid and dramatically told story of an act of terrorism that almost succeeded. They have pieced together, at last, the story of the conspiracy that nearly doomed the president and how a few good mean–ordinary guys who were willing to risk their lives in the line of duty–stopped it.

Hunter and Bainbridge are the first to report on the inner workings of this conspiracy; they examine the forces that led the perpetrators to conceive the plot. The authors also tell the story of men themselves, from their youth and the worlds in which they grew up to the women they loved and who loved them to the moment the gunfire erupted. Their telling commemorates heroism–the quiet commitment to duty that in some moments of crisis sees some people through an ordeal, even at the expense of their lives.©2005 Stephen Hunter and John Bainbridge; (P)2005 Books on Tape, Inc.

Worth the listen

This was a very long book about an event that took 38 seconds. Gives a good understanding of the Nationalist movement in Puerto Rico. The book can be a frustrating listen since it will go into hour long side stories about the participants in the shooting.

Excellent case study!

Great breakdown of a little known attempt on the president's life. This book is a must read for all warriors especially those engaged in close protection details.

Some very tight editing would have helped a lot!

I enjoy detail as much as anyone, but the authors of American Gunfight took detail way to the extreme. The actions of the police and secret service agents were interesting- their performance in the high school football game or their first job wasn't. A very interesting event that would have made a very interesting book if it was about half the length.

Fascinating Description

Interesting for lovers of detail; fascinating history of the relationship between Puerto Rico and the US. Well read. The title is somewhat misleading because the gunfight took less than one minute. The story was really about the many individuals involved and the political atmosphere.

Spellbinding History

This book is a wonderful surprise. The author takes an episode from history (the attempt to assassinate President Harry S. Truman) and gives it up-to-date relevance and edge-of-your-seat suspense. I've never read a book that takes 10 seconds of an event and turns it into an entire chapter. "American Gunfight" shows just how little we've progressed in the past 55 years. It's a must read that makes for sober wonderment at man's ability to frustrate the best in himself.