cover image NRA: An American Legend

NRA: An American Legend

Jeffrey L. Rodengen. Write Stuff Syndicate, $39.95 (300pp) ISBN 978-0-945903-81-9

NRA membership has roughly quadrupled over the last 25 years, boasts NRA: An American Legend, an illustrated history of the organization that celebrates its leaders, political activities and advertising campaigns since the organization was chartered in 1871. Author and columnist Jeffrey L. Rodengen (The Legend of Halliburton) covers such subjects as the evolution of rifle and pistol design; the role of NRA's magazine, American Rifleman, in reporting on WWII; and the birth of gun control legislation under Lyndon Johnson (""NRA's darkest days""). The book is filled with photographs and sidebars that spotlight various eminent riflemen such as sharpshooter Elizabeth Servaty Topperwein, the first female NRA member. Foreword by Tom Clancy.