The Gun

By: C. J. Chivers

Narrated by: Michael Prichard

Length: 18 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

It is the world's most widely recognized weapon, the most profuse tool for killing ever made. More than 50 national armies carry the automatic Kalashnikov, as do an array of police, intelligence, and security agencies all over the world. In this tour de force, prizewinning New York Times reporter C. J. Chivers traces the invention of the assault rifle, following the miniaturization of rapid-fire arms from the American Civil War, through World War I and Vietnam, to present-day Afghanistan, when Kalashnikovs and their knockoffs number as many as 100 million, one for every 70 persons on earth.

It is the weapon of state repression, as well as revolution, civil war, genocide, drug wars, and religious wars; and it is the arms of terrorists, guerrillas, boy soldiers, and thugs. It was the weapon used to crush the uprising in Hungary in 1956. American Marines discovered in Vietnam that the weapon in the hands of the enemy was superior to their M16s. Fidel Castro amassed them. Yasir Arafat procured them for the P.L.O. A Kalashnikov was used to assassinate Anwar Sadat. As Osama bin Laden told the world that "the winds of faith and change have blown," a Kalashnikov was by his side. Pulled from a hole, Saddam Hussein had two Kalashnikovs.

It is the world's most widely recognized weapon - cheap, easy to conceal, durable, deadly. But where did it come from? And what does it mean? Chivers, using a host of exclusive sources and declassified documents in the east and west, as well as interviews with and the personal accounts of insurgents, terrorists, child soldiers, and conventional grunts, reconstructs through the Kalashnikov the evolution of modern war. Along the way, he documents the experience and folly of war and challenges both the enduring Soviet propaganda surrounding the AK-47 and many of its myths.

©2010 C.J. Chivers (P)2010 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Eye-opening.... An entertaining work that combines technical details, biographies, political maneuvering and insightful military history." ( Kirkus)

Good book, questionable narrator

Prichard is fine, but he REALLY didn't need to do a very stereotypical native American affectation or any of the other accents he tries

The book itself is good but that is just...not necessary

great history or automatic firearms development

From Gatling to AK-47 and the M-16 this book covers the development of automatic firearms very well.

A thorough work

Alot of material, but well organized & referenced. A useful overview of machine guns.

Brilliant history of the Kalashnikov

Michael Pritchard adds dimension to a brilliant history of automatic weapons from the 1860s and the Gatling gun, the later Maxim, the venerable Tommy Gun, and automatic wrappings development through two world wars and the subsequent proxy wars between the US and the Soviet Union.

The latter wars and continuing development of light automatic arms then takes the bulk of the discussion, following the AK47 and its incredible proliferation through the decades. Any arms enthusiasts will enjoy this history. Yes, the growing pains of the Armalite AR15 known by the military variant, the M16, is also discussed.

I would have liked more about the American side of this history, but the author had to narrow the topic a bit, following the history of the Kalashnikov in greater detail as the most produced automatic weapon in history. Overall, you won't be disappointed.

Must read for AK enthusiasts and history buffs

What made the experience of listening to The Gun the most enjoyable?

The story and the narrator.

Any additional comments?

Overall, the book is excellent. I waited until after reading (listening to) the book to read about the author as not try to project my ideas about his background onto his words, and take them for face value. The book covers some major milestones in the history of firearms, leading up to the beginning of the automatic rifle changing the way battles were fought and the struggles that world armed forces faced in initial design, implementation, and production of the weapons as well as how tactics changed before and after it's widespread use. Throughout the book the author comes back and forth to the AK, often used as juxtaposition for the topic of the chapter at hand. The AK is definitely the main topic of the book, and the middle and much of the end deal with the Soviet Union's history and policy on weapons, a brief biography of Kalashnikov, the initial design and production of the weapon, and how it was distributed or authorized for manufacture (or not) by other comblock countries. It makes mention of all of the well known factories like Tula, Izshmash, Radom, Circle 10 and others.

One section I found incredibly interesting was a brief section on how the US dropped the ball in it's failure to keep up with the rest of the world in weapons design and why they made the choices they did leading up to the mid 20th century. It also deals with the initial development, testing, and backroom deals which led to the military's adoption of what would be the M-16, and the disaster that followed its debut in Vietnam. The testing section blew me away with some of the questionable and outright horrific details of the US military's "testing" of the AR-15, and I honestly can't help but hate the thing more now than I did prior to reading the book.

After finishing the book I felt the author was very knowledgeable and well versed in military tactics and policies, but felt by some of his passages that he was somewhat "anti-gun" in respect to private ownership, though in fair he explicitly says in the preface that the book would not take on the subject of the AK or semi or fully auto weapons and their place in US citizens' hands. He does however lament on what it seems he feels is an overall negative contribution the AK has made on the globe. He also seems to paint Kalashnikov himself in a very negative light, and portrays him as both a victim of the soviet union's ruthless policies, and a pathetic manufactured personality cult by the same people who sought to destroy his family. He does this all while making serious implications about the actual contributions General Kalashnikov made in his namesake firearm.

All in all, it's a great read (or listen), and actually has had me doing a little more digging and reading on various subjects of which my interest was triggered during and after reading. Recommended for AK guys who also like reading about history and politics both.

Really Enlightening

What did you love best about The Gun?

I thought this would be a much more technical book. I really appreciated how Chivers has incorporated history and consequences into the narrative.

If you’ve listened to books by C. J. Chivers before, how does this one compare?

This is my first book by Chivers. but he is on my list now.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Michael Prichard?

Yes. I appreciated his voice, and he did his best to make Scholastic material as interesting as possible. Unfortunately, he still ended up sound a little professorial.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Extreme is not how I would describe my experience. Informative and entertaining, and from time to time I chuckled or empathized, but I never laughed out loud or cried.

The AK-47, ubiquitous but obscure, is explained

I'm no expert on guns but this is a fascinating work on the history of an important technology, from the Civil War through post-Vietnam. It's full of delicious detail and a great listen.

the rigor

this was a very informative book, while being wildly entertaining as well. This book is what any movie based on the material should be, and I don't believe there should be a movie.

Good Historical Account of AK-47

I couldn't stop listening to this book. The Gun is about the AK-47 but it covers much more, starting with the first machine guns and how they were used and/or misused by the world's armies when first introduced on the battlefield. All this leads up to the development and deployment of the AK-47. Of particular interest is the section on the Vietnam war, how the North Vietnamese with the AK-47 outgunned the US with their new M16 and the politics that followed. An absolutely fascinating history, I plan to listen to this again in the near future.

Entertaining history of the AK47 series

Thoroughly enjoyed it but the fake accents were annoying and it could have been edited down a bit. Still very good and worthwhile.