One gunshot fired by a single person could be powerful enough to move a whole nation. Most of us are familiar with the assassinations of Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, William McKinley, and Martin Luther King Jr., and their long-lasting consequences. However, history is littered with lesser-known gunshots that have had equally echoing outcomes. Some were small mistakes or misjudgments, while others were acts of intent that sparked events that are now documented in our history textbooks. A single bullet serves as the catalyst for each of the stories in this book. We may or may not know who fired each bullet.

Nonetheless, we know each bullet's end point and, more crucially, the effects they had on America's trajectory: the wars, social movements, and political and economic paradigm shifts. Because they are probably not discussed in history classrooms, the names of those involved may not be recognizable enough to elicit any feelings of outrage. However, the events that their acts precipitated have become etched in American history.