The Gun that Changed the World [Paperback]

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.

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 tlS—