Truth About Handguns: Exploding The Myths, Hype, And ... (ISBN 0873649532)

Mr. Thomas's rantings and ravings.:
Disappointing, that's how I'd describe this book. Mr. Thomas claims in the title of his book that he will dispell the myths, hype, and misinformation concerning handguns. I must admit, I was taken in by the tempting title. Too bad there is little substance between the covers to backup such a lofty statement. Mr. Thomas addresses complex and controversal topics; such as the significance of the 1911 for today's shooter and bullet ballistics, but with highly subjective statements, one or two paragraphs long, sometimes without even supporting facts. Mr. Thomas, as an experienced writer, you should know better. I honestly feel, after reading this book, that one evening, after having one too many beers, Mr. Thomas decided to sitdown behind his computer and share his wisdom with the world. Although I must admit that I did learn a few things from him, I'm sure in his next book he'll do much better. Mr. Thomas, please send me a free copy of your next book. I certainly didn't get my monies worth with this one. (Or, you can just send me one of those female groupies you mentioned in your book.)

Very enjoyable:
Mr. Thomas' book would make a great introduction for someone interested in buying a first handgun. If he had only written it about ten years earlier, I could have saved quite a bit of money and avoided some purchasing mistakes. In addition, his chapter on Alvin York's courageous actions during World War One are a must read.

This Book is a Badly Needed Reality Check.:
This book is a 300lb counter-balance to gun magazine fluff. Mr. Thomas does a nice, rather entertaining job of bursting our collective bubble on the effectiveness of handgun cartridges. He lets us know that many different types of handguns may indeed be suitable for self-defense though are favorites certainly aren't perfect. And, that handguns just aren't very effective at stopping a determined attacker. I wish more people in the gun community had the more realistic perspective offered by this book. -- An intelligent and entertaining read. If you are looking for another reality check, consider Guns Save Lives by Roger Waters.

An opinion from an expert:
This books is totally frank and to the point, which is refreshing. You'll learn a few things you won't learn in gun magazines. Being somewhat well read on the subject, though, I found only about 2/3's of the book informative. If you are totally new to handguns, this book is a great investment. It will give you some inside dope of how to interpret a lot of hype in the gun business, and there's a lot of it, just like in any other industry. Thanks, Duane, for the pointers. I've already used some of them just one day after reading your book.

Entertaining and informative, hard to find...:
Unfortunately this is a hard book to find, I got my used copy from England! It was well worth the wait, because the book is great and the author with his unique and entertaining style does cover all the aspects of modern handguns: capacity, caliber, penetration, stopping power, design, pistoleros, even a trivia quiz. No myths, dogmas, misunderstandings, "commonsense" remain unshaken. Since this is a hunting country around here, I did not have many opportunities to learn about handguns, but this book (just as one of the reviewers mentions this in a less than complimentary way) almost feels like the author is sitting across from you at a table, well, sipping on some drinks. It sure feels better this way than the feeling of looking up to some lecturing stand.