Chivers traces the invention of the assault rifle, following the miniaturization of rapidfire arms from the american civil war, through wwi, vietnam, to present day. Chivers traces the invention of the assault rifle, following the miniaturization of rapidfire arms from the american civil war, through wwi, vietnam, to present day afghanistan when kalashnikovs and their knockoffs number as. The gun is the name of this blog, the purpose of which is explained in the column to your right. Chivers tells of the 19thcentury inventor in indianapolis who designs a civil war killing machine, insisting that moreefficient slaughter will save lives. He traces them back to their origins in the early experiments of gatling and maxim, and examines the first appearance of the machinegun. Chiverss extraordinary new book tells an alternative history of the world as seen through these terrible weapons. The gun dismantles myths as it moves from the naive optimism of the industrial revolution through the treacherous milieu of the soviet union to the inside records of the taliban. Pdf on jan 1, 20, michelle jones and others published edit.
It is perhaps the most potent question to echo from the cold war. Oct 31, 2010 as the new york times correspondent and former marine c. At gun shows i always noticed that many shoppers and booth keepers alike kept the gun digest standard catalog of firearms close at hand. The gun is a nonfiction book written by journalist c. As understood, achievement does not recommend that you have extraordinary points. An eyeopening, often grim history of automatic weapons, emphasizing the soviet unions murderous, wildly successful legacy. Drawing from years of research, interviews, and from declassified records revealed for the first time, he presents a richly human account of an evolution in the very experience of war. In the summer of 2007, he was named the newspapers moscow bureau chief. A battle at the crossroads of gun control and mass torts timothy d. Dubbed the ak47, it was selected as the eastern blocs standard arm. Available on kindle ebook and can be read on any device with the free kindle app. Chivers in the gun follows neither pattern, and as such was a rather different experience for me. The gun is a wellorganized and fastmoving narrative that operates at several levels.
The quest for an individual weapon with the firepower of a light machine gun and the portability of a machine pistol dated from the first world war, but stalin gave it top priority with. Neither progun nor antigun, the gun builds to a terrifying sequence, in which a young man who confronts a trio of assassins is shattered by 23 bullets at close range. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read the fighters. With this tome, arguments were started and settled, prices set and haggled over, bluing and rust and rifling conditions discussed ad nauseum, and deal after deal after deal made. The ak47 and the evolution of war, by cj chivers the. Chivers is a correspondent for the new york times and a writeratlarge for the new york times magazine. Chivers vividly depicts the false starts and the eventual success, as when the gun aided in suppressing the 1956 hungarian revolution, and its subsequent global distribution and evolution into. J download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Reliable information about the coronavirus covid19 is available from the world health organization current situation, international travel. The book deals with a historical topic, and as such might generally be expected to stay away from the fictional. Chivers has written a superb history lesson wrapped around the story of the russian ak47 assault rifle and its namesake. Chivers begins by explaining the origins of mobile firepower during the first.
His magazine story the fighter won the 2017 pulitzer prize in feature writing. Author of the fighters, an unvarnished account of the rankandfile experience of modern combat in afghanistan and iraq, called a a classic by the new york times, a memorial in pages by the washington post, and an honest reckoning by the wall street journal. The ak47 remains one of the most significant inventions of the 20th century and will no doubt remain an influential weapon for decades to come. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search. Chivers traces the invention of the assault rifle, following the miniaturization of. The ak47, or kalashnikov, is the most abundant and efficient firearm on earth. Chivers examines the sixdecade history of the ak47, the worlds most ubiquitous automatic rifle. Chivers an excerpt from the book the gun, published in esquire, november 1 st, 2010.
At a secret armsdesign contest in stalins soviet union, army technicians submitted a stubby rifle with a curved magazine. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the gun. This is just one of the solutions for you to be successful. The tale traces tyrays troubled home life, his desire to rebuild his reputation, and his quest to get revenge on darrell, the only boy who ever stood up to him. He is currently assigned to the new york times magazine and the newspapers investigations desk as a longform writer and investigative reporter. Chivers traces the invention of the assault rifle, following the. Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle. Not only does chivers deliver the goods on the ak47 and kalashnikov. Chivers about the ak47 rifle and its variants, and the impact they have had on the world. Chivers traces the invention of the assault rifle, follow. The man survives to ask questions that chivers examines with rigor and flair.
The author highlights the importance of gun control in the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004 as well as in some u. Please take a possible time lag into account when contacting us. Well, there were certainly many factors, but an important new book forces us to consider this. Without denying the familiar contributions of mikhail kalashnikov, chivers describes the ak47 as a product of the soviet system.
In spite of this, most people remain ignorant of its significance. It is also the name of the book, the gun the reason this blog began in late 2010. In 2009 he was part of a team that won the pulitzer prize for international reporting for coverage from afghanistan and pakistan. It covers the origins of the design, its invention and distribution, and the consequences of the patterns spread around the world. Former marine officer and new york times moscow bureau chief chivers hardly mentions his subject in the books first third as he recounts the history of automatic weapons from the american civil war to world war i with familiar eponyms. Chivers explains in the gun, westerners were used to making guns with precision tools that allowed assembly lines to work.
Chivers explains in the gun, westerners were used to making guns with precision tools that. At the most basic level, chivers focuses on the original ak47 and its many. The book focuses on the utility of gun policy, and its discussion of policy impact is grounded in realworld politics. Chivers traces the invention of the assault rifle, following the miniaturization of rapidfire arms from the american civil war, through world war i and vietnam, to presentday afghanistan, when kalashnikovs and their knockoffs number as many as 100 million, one for every seventy.
As the new york times correspondent and former marine c. Throughout, the gun animates unforgettable charactersinventors, salesmen, heroes, megalomaniacs, racists, dictators, gunrunners, terrorists, child soldiers, government careerists, and fools. Author of the fighters, an unvarnished account of the rankandfile experience of modern combat in afghanistan and iraq, called a a classic by the new york times, a memorial in pages by the washington post, and an honest reckoning by the wall. An incisive examination of modern conflict and official folly, the gun mixes historical research, investigative reporting and battlefield reportage to illuminate the origins of the worlds most abundant weapon. Chivers served as an infantry officer in the united states marine corps. The sequel to the bully, this book is about bluford freshman tyray hobbs, the tormentor of darrell mercer. Chivers s extraordinary new book tells an alternative history of the world as seen through these terrible weapons.
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