The Gun

This book is a compelling review of how man's technology for killing each other has shaped history over the last 140 years, and how entrenched thinking has been far more deadly than the weapons of war. As a hardcore firearms enthusiast, I hoped the book would be a history of the most influential gun of all time, the AK-47 family of shoulder-fired military arms. What I found was much, much more, including a commentary on how the development and deployment of the weapons of war reflect the best and worst of human nature and our institutions of government. Has there ever been anything so deadly as short-term thinking, greed, and manipulative self-interest? Not according to this book, which weaves history, biography, political commentary, and philosophy into a single retrospective on political history over the last 140 years. Always thought-provoking and even-handed, the author neither glorifies nor villifies the guns in question. Rather, he examines the development, use and deployment of guns as the tangible extension of political and economic influences that shape the course of history.

This book was certainly not what I expected. It was much, much more. I was unable to put it down. Having come of age in the Viet Nam era, I was horrified to learn of how the badly-flawed M-16 was developed, marketed, foisted upon the US military by Robert McNamara and his chronies, even though it was wholy unsuited to the work at hand. It was chilling to read how many lives were lost because our troops had been equipped with guns that would jam and fail with terrifying predictability. I was outraged to read of the political cover-up that blamed the problems with the guns on the troops in the field, whose lives depended on them.

While the legend of the AK 47 is shown to be at least as much PR as history, it nonetheless showed that the smug, self-congratulatory attitude of superiority we cultivate in the West, is not so well-deserved. A great read; highly recommended!

The title of this book should be pluralized. It is really a textbook on the development of automatic weapons in general rather than a history of the AK 47/74. Only about 1/3 of the book is specifically about the AK 47. Very interesting but strays a little far afield at times. The narrator, Michael Prichard takes some getting used to, but is ok. That said, The Gun is interesting and worth the time investment.

The material is awesome but the length and the dryness of the narration had my mind wandering around a bit. Still a decent read and great history of the guns that helped shape the modern world.

I have bought about ten books from Audibile, all dealing with history, and this may be my favorite.

On the surface, The Gun appears to be a book about the AK-47. But it's really the story of the evolution of military weapons and strategies, advances in technology from the 19th to the 20th century, and the history of this time period...through the sights of various arms designers and governments that shaped the world stage.

I like Chivers thesis that the AK-47 may have been more important in the long-run than the Soviets developing nuclear weapons.

The narration by Prichard is spot on.

If you are a fan of reading about history or current events, or...say, the film "Lord of War"...buy this audiobook right away.

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

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.

Other reviewers have summerized the book well. Although I have some military experience with the Soviet Union and the present countries of Russia, the Stans, etc., the book gave me better insight into the culture of the USSR and the cultural traits which carry forward to today. My only grump is with Mr. Prichards attempt at a Russian accent during his readings. He sounds like a Scottish low-lander when he reads from the quotes.

Downloaded this after reading a rave review in a news magazine. While some parts are interesting, including the history and rivalries in the development of machine guns, I found the narrative a bit scattershot (no pun intended) and not all that captivating. Will probably only appeal to those with a real interest in firearms.

Michael Prichard is up there as one of the dryest, clubfooted narrators of all time. How is it that he keeps getting gigs? I can't begin to number the number of excellent books he has ruined with his congested voice and passionless monotone delivery. Shudder-inducing. Many books, like this one, deserve much better. Michael Jayston, for example, could make the telephone book impossible to stop listening to.

Cannot compare; never read the ink on paper version.

The personal anecdotes about the principle characters were nice and made the book's value far greater than if it were just a history of mechanical devices. Far far overshadowing the basic histories of the fully automatic weapons was Chivers' stark revelation of the corruption around the creation and implementation of the M-16 rifle and the fact that so many men died or suffered catastrophic life-changing injuries and PTSD because of the well-known defects that were buried under marketing hype and self-protective lies by manufacturers and military officers, alike. Chivers' revealing that most M-16's in the early years of the Vietnam extravaganza were so flawed and so unreliable that many of our troops demanded to use the heavier/older M-14 or they actually picked-up the fearsome weapon of the enemy (the AK-47.) OUR own troops were so terrified of their own weapons' flaws that they ended-up using the enemy's own weapons because they wouldn't jam and make them sitting ducks in firefights. If more people knew about this travesty and that so many of our young men died because of business decisions, many things about the way today's "wars" are conducted would be scrutinized and made subject to accountability than we see now.

His pace and use of foreign accents made his reading amplify the mere words the author wrote.

"Genius So Efficiently Applied to Causing Tragedy"

The author did excellent work in crafting a book that stands alone as a documentary to the development of weapons which have changed our world...for the worse, unfortunately. Yet, we need to know. Also I love the quote; "Traditions and bad ideas die more slowly than do men" because it is so true and so evident almost everywhere one looks.