Bibliophilia: The Gun – C. J. Chivers

The Gun – C. J. Chivers

A history of the machine gun, but even more specifically, the Avtomat Kalashnikov 47. A weapon that at one point was considered artillery, and required horses and a large team to support it, was a few decades later transformed into something that could be carried by one man. The book also delves into the US’ initial disdain for this crude, inaccurate Soviet bullet spitter, and then when they realized the paradigm shift in warfare it represented, their flawed response to it and the immense teething problems their answer to it had.