The Ak47 Story: Evolution of the Kalashnikov Weapons [Hardcover]

Edward Clinton Ezell (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Stackpole Books (March 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811709167
• ISBN-13: 978-0811709163
• Product Dimensions: 2.4 x 1.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,500,757 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Book on the AK, October 30, 2007

By 

John M. Lane "statesman and philosopher" (Hardin, Montana, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This is an old book. It was originally published by Stackpole in 1986, but it is a classic account of the AK-47 and its development.

It's written by Edward Clinton Ezell, who was Curator of the Division of Armed Forces History at the National Museum of American History. The man knows his field and writes well.

The book is annotated, indexed, and well illustrated by black and white line drawings, photographs and tables. It includes the development of the AK-47 and the M-43 intermediate cartridge (7.62 X 39 MM) it fires. Given the impact of the AK-47 on military history (and history in general), this is a wonderfully useful book.

Ezell takes the long view of the AK-47's history and masterfully describes the creation of the Imperial arms establishment from 1812 through "the Great Patriotic War" as World War II is called in Russia. This is important because it explains the Russian's fixation on mass and ease of production. They were short of small arms in both world wars.

This is great history, especially when you realize that Ezell did his research before the Cold War ended and Russian archival sources became more available to Western scholars and writers. This is still a five star book and if you are the least bit interested in Mikhail Kalshnikov, Russia, AK firearms, or military history, you will enjoy this book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not your daddy's AK-47 book., February 8, 2010

By 

A. Shuler (Carolinas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ak47 Story, The (Paperback)

After years of seeing 'fictionalized' accounts of the AK-47, I was giddy (literally like a schoolgirl reading the final Harry Potter book) when I started thumbing through the pages of this masterpiece. I can't tell you how many times some "Duncan Long" type has talked about running over the AK with a tank, smashing it on the ground, rusting it closed, beating it with a wet noodle and it still goes off. I can tell you from personal experience, it's just a tool and they are subject to the same reliability issues as most other guns.

That said, the development of this tool is a fascinating read. Whatever your opinion, this was a prolific weapon and serves as a beacon for Communism and Terrorism the world over. It is perhaps the most easily recognizable and talked about firearm as well. This book doesn't really go into that, though. This book is a history lesson, not a hyped-up Mountain Dew commercial. The amount of info in this book makes it a good one to read through twice. That's what I did.