The Gun that Changed the World / Edition 1

by Mikhail Kalashnikov, Elena Joly, Andrew Brown

Overview

The Russian word that is most frequently spoken throughout the world isn't Lenin, gulag or perestroika, it’s ‘Kalashnikov’. The reason for this is simple: there are 80 million Kalashnikovs in circulation on five continents. Once invented, the AK-47 assault rifle became the most widely used weapon in the world: from Vietnam to Palestine, from Cuba to Iraq, it was at the heart of conflicts and struggles everywhere. It is the only firearm that has ever been depicted on a national flag – that of Mozambique, where it symbolizes liberation.

Mikhail Kalashnikov himself, who was born in 1919, here tells his life story, with the help of Elena Joly, for the first time: his deportation to Siberia with his family while still a child; his time as a soldier in a tank regiment; his invention of the world’s most famous weapon and his turbulent life under Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Gorbachev and Yeltsin. This is a remarkable portrait of a man of ingenuity and vitality in the context of the often frightening and terribly unforgiving Russia of the twentieth century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780745636924
Publisher:	Polity Press
Publication date:	10/27/2006
Edition description:	1ST
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.55(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Elena Joly listened to Kalashnikov as he told his story and has been careful to respect his spoken style. Born in the Soviet Union, she now lives in Paris. She was in charge of the 'Soviet section' of the French publishing house Actes Sud, and has written La Troisième Mort de Staline (1988), a series of interviews with intellectuals of the Gorbachev period.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements.

Foreword to English edition: The history and workings of the AK-47.

Preface – The Terror and the Glory.

1. Treading a path of pain and sorrow.

Son of a kulak.

Farewell to Siberia.

2. ‘Arise, great country! Arise to mortal fight!’

The last but one.

My university – the hospital.

'You must help Sergeant Kalashnikov!'

3. The birth of the AK.

The 'Mikhim' dossier.

'Up until 2025, and even beyond….'

4. A unique weapon.

The standardization of firearms.

One more step.

5. 'He was a god, he might rise again.'

Daily life of a deputy in the Supreme Soviet.

Behind the walls of the Kremlin.

6. 'At home and abroad.'

Izhevsk.

Better late than never.

7. Odds and ends.

Notes.

Glossary.

Biographical details.

Select bibliography and filmography.

Index.

Editorial Reviews

"This intruiging autobiography opens doors on life in the once closed military town of Izhevsk, and provides revealing insights into the not-so-closed mind of a Soviet gunmaker."
Times Literary Supplement

"A commanding portrait of a man who lived through the best and worst treatment at the hands of the Soviet regime."
Tribune

"Mikhail Kalashnikov's autobiography is an intriguing look into the life and mind of a self-taught weapons designer who believed in what he did and for whom he did it. In plain language, this simple man straightforwardly tells of the adversity he surmounted as a youth to achieve the pinnacle of success as an adult. Though he ascribes the success in his life to fate, his innate vision and talent for the mechanics of weapon design show through unmistakably. A Stalinist, communist and patriot to the end, his life story is a valuable lens through with to view the history of the USSR and Russia from revolution to the present."
Roger Reese, Texas A&M University

"Mikhail Kalashnikov’s 'assault rifle' bridged the gap between the slow but accurate rifle and the fast but inaccurate sub-machine gun, and thus brought us – in the 1940s – to the point where armies still stand today. Readers of this delightful book will wonder why he ever bothered. Purged by Stalin and exiled to Siberia as a boy, Kalashnikov later accepted the Stalin Prize for his work on the AK-47. This fascinating book is an enthralling journey into the Soviet arsenal and mind."
Geoffrey Wawro, University of North Texas

"This book has pace, passion and a number of unusual insights into the weird mindset of at least one section of the Soviet ruling classes. It is a human story: a 'rags to riches' or 'poor boy makes good' story – and occasionally even a tear-jerker. It also contains some pretty good jokes."
Paddy Griffith, freelance military historian and publisher

From the Publisher