The Gun That Changed The World

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.

Elena Joly listened to Kalashnikov as he told his story and has been careful to respect his spoken style. Born in the Soviet Union, she now lives in Paris. She was in charge of the 'Soviet section' of the French publishing house Actes Sud, and has written La Troisième Mort de Staline (1988), a series of interviews with intellectuals of the Gorbachev period.

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 the Supreme Soviet.
Behind the walls of the Kremlin.
6. 'At home and abroad.'
Izhevsk.
Better late than never.
7. Odds and ends.
Notes.
Glossary.
Biographical details.
Select bibliography and filmography.
Index.