Synopses & Reviews
In the 60 years since General Kalashnikov created the AK47’s distinctive silhouette, the gun has been at the center of conflicts across the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and Latin America. The weapon that made Kalashnikov “The Hero of the Soviet Union” has also appeared on T-shirts and vodka bottles, starred in videos and song lyrics, and been re-fashioned in crystal — a gift from Vladimir Putin to George W. Bush.
Focusing on the testimonies of the men and women who have experienced the weapon firsthand — including a Sudanese child soldier, a Vietcong veteran, and a French photographer who has documented the carnage in the West Bank — Michael Hodges’s AK47: The Story of a Gun tells the fascinating story of the world’s most ubiquitous gun, from its origins in the Soviet Union, through its rebirth in the hands of third world revolutionaries, to its current status as the brand leader in international terrorism.
Review
In this compelling history of one weapons outsized impact on the world, [Hodges] not only explores the AKs crucial role in high-profile war zones like Vietnam and Iraq but also examines the travails of Kalashnikov societies
Vivid accounts of the guns horrific efficacy propel the book along.”
The New Yorker
In a lively but chilling investigative history, British journalist Hodges examines the legacy of the most ubiquitous gun in the world
Hodges knows how to keep his thorough, eye-opening narrative moving, even as he hopscotches to nearly every conflict zone of the past 60 years
this pop-history page-turner should appeal to anyone interested in military history or international conflict.”
Publishers Weekly STARRED review
[an] absorbing book.”
Newsweek
[A] remarkable, thorough account of the assault rifle that is the icon of insurgents the world over.”
Los Angeles Times
[Hodges] examines the meteoric ascension of this simple, affordable and highly effective assault weapon into a global brand on par with Big Macs and the Nike swoosh
In vivid dispatches from the worlds least-secure places, where the trail of bodies is piled knee-deep, Hodges reveals this 60-year-old killing machine to be, if nothing else, a survivor.”
Time Out New York
fascinating
In brisk and vivid prose, Hodges traces the AK47s history through interviews and site visits
Its hardly an agreeable picture, to be sure, but one we need to see, and Hodges is to be commended for presenting it so well.”
Mobile Press-Register
Hodges takes his willing readers on the winding, turbulent, and terror-laden journey of the infamous rifle
both compelling and horrifying
Hodges report on the AK fuels its readers with a contagious sort of fascination for the guns enduring prowess. It is a vicious and fiery fuel that Hodges ignites in his readers, one that raises questions, churns the stomach, and ultimately compels us to turn the page.”
The Brooklyn Rail
This is a book about a contemporary phenomenon that is crucially important, utterly terrifying, and largely ignored
[it] charts the spread of the titular weaponespecially in Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asiaand the ways in which the gun virtually guarantees the continued implosion of failed states and the intensification of terrorist violence.”
BookForum
terse [and] effective
The slim, fast-paced book is an effective meditation on the relationship among violence, politics, and the crude, ubiquitous, small-arms technology.”
Time Out Chicago
Synopsis
In the 60 years since General Kalashnikov created the AK47’s distinctive silhouette, the gun has been at the center of conflicts across the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and Latin America. The weapon that made Kalashnikov “The Hero of the Soviet Union” has also appeared on T-shirts and vodka bottles, starred in videos and song lyrics, and been re-fashioned in crystal; a gift from Vladimir Putin to George W. Bush.
Focusing on the testimonies of the men and women who have experienced the weapon firsthand (including a Sudanese child soldier, a Vietcong veteran, and a French photographer who has documented the carnage in the West Bank) Michael Hodges's AK47: The Story of a Gun tells the fascinating story of the world’s most ubiquitous gun, from its origins in the Soviet Union, through its rebirth in the hands of third world revolutionaries, to its current status as the brand leader in international terrorism.
Synopsis
Hodges' work tells the fascinating story of the world's most ubiquitous gun, from its origins in the Soviet Union, through its rebirth in the hands of third world revolutionaries, to its current status as the brand leader in international terrorism.