THE GUN THAT CHANGED THE WORLD

THE GUN THAT CHANGED THE WORLD The Russian word that is most frequently spoken throughout the world isn't Lenin, gulag or perestroika, its 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 & 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 worlds most famous weapon & his turbulent life under Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Gorbachev & Yeltsin. This is a remarkable portrait of a man of ingenuity & vitality in the context of the often frightening & terribly unforgiving Russia of the twentieth century. ISBN: 0-7456-3691-8 publish date: 04/30/2011