Origins -- The birth of machine guns -- Machine guns in action -- Hiram Maxim changes war -- Slaughter made industrial : the Great War -- Invention and distribution -- Stalin's contest : the creation of the AK-47 -- The breakout : mass production, distribution, and early use of the AK-47 -- Aftermath : consequences of the AK-47's global spread -- The accidental rifle -- Everyman's gun -- Epilogue : the twenty-first century's rifle.
Summary:
In a tour de force, a prize-winning "New York Times" reporter traces the invention and mass distribution of the assault rifle, and its effects on war.
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