The Winchester: Legend of the West

BBC journalists explores the history of, and family behind the Winchester Rifle

The Winchester Rifle, the iconic gun made in New Haven, Connecticut, and sold in its hundreds of thousands around the world, mirrors American expansion at a key period in the young country’s history. The lethal repeating rifle became the defining image of America’s frontier – and was known amongst Native Americans as “the spirit gun”. It represented both the pioneering vigour and the brutal force which conquered the West.

Laura Trevelyan, BBC journalist, descendent of the Winchester family, and author of The Winchester: Legend of the West (I.B.Tauris, September 2016) will be in conversation with Reeta Chakrabati, BBC News presenter and correspondent. She presents the One, Six and Ten O’Clock News on BBC1 and also reports at home and abroad.

Sponsored by the Eccles Centre for American Studies at the British Library