{"product_id":"the-gun-9780141020631","title":"The Gun","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eC.J. (Christopher John) Chivers is a senior writer for the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e and its former Moscow Bureau Chief.  He was an infantry officer in the US Marines from 1988 to 1994 and served in the First Gulf War.  He is the recipient of numerous prizes including a shared Pulitzer for International Reporting in 2009 for coverage of the war in Afghanistan.  He has reported from many of the major war-torn areas of the world.  He lives with his family in Rhode Island.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith impelling force, C. J. Chivers tells a remarkable story of how this one, superbly reliable firearm became the most abundant ever produced, and was to exceed the consequences even of Soviet nuclear know-how in the Cold War, and beyond -- Alistair Horne, author of 'The Price of Glory' and 'A Savage War of Peace'\u003cbr\u003eDazzling ... startling ... \u003ci\u003eThe Gun\u003c\/i\u003e does exactly what the best art history or music writing does - it opens our eyes to see anew the familiar -- Doug Stanton, author of 'Horse Soldiers'\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Gun \u003c\/i\u003eis for those who wonder how we fight today and why we fight that way. C. J. Chivers has given us a seminal work -- James Bradley, author of 'Flags of Our Fathers'\u003cbr\u003eAbsorbing and beautifully written ... The story of this particular weapon becomes in an important sense the story of the violence and threat at the heart of the more than sixty years since the gun was first introduced -- Richard Overy\u003cbr\u003eChivers is a first-rate war correspondent and a prodigious researcher ... \u003ci\u003eThe Gun\u003c\/i\u003e is likely to become the standard account of the world's standard assault rifle -- Max Boot * New York Times Book Review *\u003cbr\u003eChivers's mastery of history and engineering is matched by his mastery of language ... \u003ci\u003eThe Gun\u003c\/i\u003e is a riveting read -- Raymond Bonner * Guardian *\u003cbr\u003eChivers tells the story well ... [he is] superb on the technical history of the AK-47 and its predecessors, but he also strikingly underlines its human cost as well as weaving adeptly through the propaganda -- Tim Newark * Financial Times *\u003cbr\u003eA formidable feat of research and writing ... he has produced surely the final word on one of the most iconic weapons of our times -- Roger Moorhouse * Independent on Sunday *\u003cbr\u003eChivers is admirably meticulous in his research -- Justin Marozzi * Telegraph *","brand":"Penguin Books Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51138099511639,"sku":"9780141020631","price":11.69,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780141020631.jpg?v=1751917988","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-gun-9780141020631","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}