THE GUN: THE AK-47 AND THE EVOLUTION OF WAR
by Chivers, C. J
- Used
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Good in Good dust jacket
- ISBN 10
- 0713998377
- ISBN 13
- 9780713998375
- Seller
-
Stratford upon Avon, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Synopsis
At a secret arms-design contest in Stalins Soviet Union, army technicians submitted a stubby rifle with a curved magazine. Dubbed the AK-47, it was selected as the Eastern Blocs standard arm. Scoffed at in the Pentagon as crude and unimpressive, it was in fact a breakthrougha compact automatic that could be mastered by almost anyone, last decades in the field, and would rarely jam. Manufactured by tens of millions in planned economies, it became first an instrument of repression and then the most lethal weapon of the Cold War. Soon it was in the hands of terrorists. In a searing examination of modern conflict and official folly, C. J. Chivers mixes meticulous historical research, investigative reporting, and battlefield reportage to illuminate the origins of the worlds most abundant firearm and the consequences of its spread. The result, a tour de force of history and storytelling, sweeps through the miniaturization and distribution of automatic firepower, and puts an iconic object in fuller context than ever before. The Gun dismantles myths as it moves from the nave optimism of the Industrial Revolution through the treacherous milieu of the Soviet Union to the inside records of the Taliban. Chivers tells of the 19th-century inventor in Indianapolis who designs a Civil War killing machine, insisting that more-efficient slaughter will save lives. A German attach who observes British machine guns killing Islamic warriors along the Nile advises his government to amass the weapons that would later flatten British ranks in World War I. In communist Hungary, a locksmith acquires an AK-47 to help wrest his country from the Kremlins yoke, beginning a journey to the gallows. The Pentagon suppresses the results of firing tests on severed human heads that might have prevented faulty rifles from being rushed to G.I.s in Vietnam. In Africa, a millennial madman arms abducted children and turns them on their neighbors, setting his country ablaze. Neither pro-gun nor anti-gun, The Gun builds to a terrifying sequence, in which a young man who confronts a trio of assassins is shattered by 23 bullets at close range. The man survives to ask questions that Chivers examines with rigor and flair. Throughout, The Gun animates unforgettable charactersinventors, salesmen, heroes, megalomaniacs, racists, dictators, gunrunners, terrorists, child soldiers, government careerists, and fools. Drawing from years of research, interviews, and from declassified records revealed for the first time, he presents a richly human account of an evolution in the very experience of war.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Paul Meekins Military & History Books (GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 74346
- Title
- THE GUN: THE AK-47 AND THE EVOLUTION OF WAR
- Author
- Chivers, C. J
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Good in Good dust jacket
- Quantity Available
- 1
- ISBN 10
- 0713998377
- ISBN 13
- 9780713998375
- Publisher
- Allen Lane / Penguin Books
- Place of Publication
- Uk
- Date Published
- 2010
- Keywords
- Social History, Guns & Firearms
Terms of Sale
Paul Meekins Military & History Books
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About the Seller
Paul Meekins Military & History Books
About Paul Meekins Military & History Books
Glossary
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- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...