The Gun by CJ Chivers: a short review

Thorough, exceptionally well-researched, reasonably well-written, and convincing. Covers the development of automatic weapons from the Civil War to World War II, the Soviet project to develop what became the Kalishnikov weapon system, the belated and dangerously flawed American response with the M-16, and the subsequent loss of control as the weapons moved from stockpiles to markets when the Soviet governments collapsed.

Nonetheless, it seems to me the book could be about 20% shorter without significant damage.

And the e-book version’s just this side of unacceptably buggy. You’d think they built the file from a scan of the paper book.


This short review was originally published on LibraryThing.

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