The Gun is a nonfiction book written by journalist C. J. Chivers about the AK-47 rifle and its variants, and the impact they have had on the world. It covers the origins of the design, its invention and distribution, and the consequences of the pattern's spread around the world.
A prologue relates two events in 1949 in the Soviet Union marking the beginning of the Cold War: the first Soviet nuclear test and innovation in the development of the automatic rifle; the former made total war unwinnable and the latter made smaller proxy wars the principal activity of the Cold War, and automatic rifles would prove the most lethal weapons of the Cold War.
Roughly the final third of the book covers the contest between the AK-47 and the M16 in the Vietnam War, and the spread of the adoption of the AK-47 by criminal, non-military, non-state actors.
Reviewsedit
Reviews were generally favorable. Reviewers contrasted the broad scope of the book (automatic rifles) with its nominal scope (the Kalashnikov rifles), and noted the coverage of both technical aspects and social impacts and that the narrative is a human story, involving inventors, generals, and casualties. According to reviewers, Chivers' experiences as Marine, journalist, and weapons expert informed the work. The most common criticism was that some topics were considered diversions by reviewers who took the central topic to be the development of the Kalashnikov pattern or the contest between the AK-47 and the United States' M16 in the Vietnam War.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
^Keefe, IV, Mark A. (October 29, 2010). "A history of the AK-47, the gun that made history". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
^Kim, Robert (October 16, 2010). "Everyman's Gun: Sheer numbers have made the AK-47 the world's primary tool for killing". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
^Bonner, Raymond (January 28, 2011). "The Gun: The AK-47 and the Evolution of War by CJ Chivers – review". The Guardian. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
^Matloff, Judith (October 2010). "Top Gun: How the Kalashnikov conquered the world". Slate. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
^Rutten, Tim (November 26, 2010). "Book review: 'The Gun' by C.J. Chivers". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
Further readingedit
Chivers, C. J. (August 4, 2016). "Tools of Modern Terror: How the AK-47 and AR-15 Evolved into Rifles of Choice for Mass Shootings". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 June 2019. Article from 2016 covering related scope.
chivers, book, nonfiction, book, written, journalist, chivers, about, rifle, variants, impact, they, have, world, covers, origins, design, invention, distribution, consequences, pattern, spread, around, world, gunauthorc, chiverscountryunited, stateslanguageen. The Gun is a nonfiction book written by journalist C J Chivers about the AK 47 rifle and its variants and the impact they have had on the world It covers the origins of the design its invention and distribution and the consequences of the pattern s spread around the world The GunAuthorC J ChiversCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishGenreNon fiction military historyPublisherSimon amp SchusterPublication dateOct 12 2010 1 Pages496ISBN0 74327 07 6 2OCLC795609613Websitecjchivers wbr com wbr aboutthegun Contents 1 Synopsis 1 1 Origins 1 2 Invention and distribution 1 3 Aftermath 2 Reviews 3 References 4 Further reading 5 External linksSynopsis editA prologue relates two events in 1949 in the Soviet Union marking the beginning of the Cold War the first Soviet nuclear test and innovation in the development of the automatic rifle the former made total war unwinnable and the latter made smaller proxy wars the principal activity of the Cold War and automatic rifles would prove the most lethal weapons of the Cold War Origins edit Roughly the first third of the book is devoted to the history of the development of automatic firearms including the biographies of Hiram Maxim Richard Gatling Paul Mauser John T Thompson their eponymous automatic weapons and their impact on warfare Invention and distribution edit Chivers deconstructs the Soviet origin mythology of the Kalashnikov rifle Chivers draws in part from his interview of Mikhail Kalashnikov Aftermath edit Roughly the final third of the book covers the contest between the AK 47 and the M16 in the Vietnam War and the spread of the adoption of the AK 47 by criminal non military non state actors Reviews editReviews were generally favorable Reviewers contrasted the broad scope of the book automatic rifles with its nominal scope the Kalashnikov rifles and noted the coverage of both technical aspects and social impacts and that the narrative is a human story involving inventors generals and casualties According to reviewers Chivers experiences as Marine journalist and weapons expert informed the work The most common criticism was that some topics were considered diversions by reviewers who took the central topic to be the development of the Kalashnikov pattern or the contest between the AK 47 and the United States M16 in the Vietnam War 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 References edit Chivers C J 12 October 2010 The Gun Simon amp Schuster ISBN 978 1 4391 9653 3 Hennessey Patrick December 2 2010 The Flesh and Blood Behind the AK 47 The New York Times Retrieved May 1 2018 Boot Max October 29 2010 Arms and the Man The New York Times Retrieved May 1 2018 Keefe IV Mark A October 29 2010 A history of the AK 47 the gun that made history The Washington Post Retrieved May 1 2018 Kim Robert October 16 2010 Everyman s Gun Sheer numbers have made the AK 47 the world s primary tool for killing The Wall Street Journal Retrieved May 1 2018 Bonner Raymond January 28 2011 The Gun The AK 47 and the Evolution of War by CJ Chivers review The Guardian Retrieved May 1 2018 Matloff Judith October 2010 Top Gun How the Kalashnikov conquered the world Slate Retrieved May 4 2018 Exum Andrew Autumn 2010 Armed for a Fight The Wilson Quarterly Retrieved May 4 2018 Rutten Tim November 26 2010 Book review The Gun by C J Chivers Los Angeles Times Retrieved May 2 2018 Further reading editChivers C J August 4 2016 Tools of Modern Terror How the AK 47 and AR 15 Evolved into Rifles of Choice for Mass Shootings The New York Times Retrieved 6 June 2019 Article from 2016 covering related scope Kahaner Larry 2006 AK 47 The Weapon that Changed the Face of War John Wiley amp Sons ISBN 978 0470168806 External links editThe Gun official publisher s web page at Simon amp Schuster Q amp A with C J Chivers About The Gun The New York Times October 13 2010 Retrieved May 2 2018 At the Internet Archive registration required Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Gun Chivers book amp oldid 1203151881, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
