In the sixty years since General Kalashnikov created the AK's distinctive silhouette, the gun has been at the centre of conflicts across the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. The weapon that made him a 'Hero of the Soviet Union' has also appeared on t-shirts and vodka bottles, featured in videos and song lyrics and been re-fashioned in crystal - a gift from Putin to George W. Bush. Power, politics and passion combine in the story of a weapon that has shaped the modern world. Using testimonies of people who have experienced the gun at first-hand - including a Sudanese child soldier, a Vietcong veteran and a Yorkshire teenager - Michael Hodges provides a compelling account of how the AK47 became an icon that ranks alongside Coca-Cola as one of the most recognisable brands in the world.
- ISBN10 1848947690
- ISBN13 9781848947696
- Publish Date 20 March 2008 (first published 28 June 2007)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Hodder & Stoughton
- Imprint Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
- Edition Digital original
- Format eBook
- Pages 240
- Language English