| The Gun That Changed the World Contributor(s): Kalashnikov, Mikhail (Author), Joly, Elena (With), Brown, Andrew (Translator) |
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ISBN: 0745636926 ISBN-13: 9780745636924 Publisher: Polity Press OUR PRICE: $24.70 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: October 2006 Annotation: The Russian word that is most frequently spoken throughout the world isn't Lenin, gulag or perestroika, itrsquo; s lsquo; Kalashnikovrsquo; . 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 ndash; 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 worldrsquo; 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. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Biography & Autobiography | Military - History | Military - General - History | Russia & The Former Soviet Union |
| Dewey: B |
| Physical Information: 0.65" H x 5.5" W x 8.26" (0.63 lbs) 224 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Russia - Chronological Period - 20th Century |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: 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. |