Kalashnikov, The Arms and the Man:  A Revised and Expanded Edition of the AK47 Story by Edward Clinton Ezell Collector Grade Publications, 2001, hardcover 284 pages ISBN 0-88935-267-4 $59.95

Given the popular fascination with these arms, and the plethora of very basic technical data available about them, it is a bit surprising that the only scholarly treatment of the social, political, economic, technological and historical forces and factory affecting the design evolution of the AK47 and its progeny has been out of print for some time.  The AK47 Story, written by the late Dr. Edward Ezell, and published in 1986 offers an excellent analysis and synthesis of all the factors that combined to produce what has become the definitional assault rifle.  Unfortunately, the book has two glaring flaws.  Specifically, it was written during the height of the Cold War, when much of the primary source material was classified as state secrets by the former Soviet Union.  As a result, many of the book's points and conclusions are products of deductive reasoning based on intelligence, analysis and observation - but not on documented history or recorded fact.  Secondly, and more importantly, it has been out of print for more than five years, and even used copies are commanding hefty prices - when they can be found.

We live, however, in fortunate times.  Beginning with the glastnost ("openess") policies of the Gorbachev regime, and culminating with the torrents of revelations following the collapse of Soviet communism, large amounts of hitherto unknown information about Mikhail Kalashnikov and the design and evolution of Soviet small arms from 1917 to the present day has become available to Western scholars.  Much of this information confirms the suppositions and deductions found in The AK47 Story.  However, an even larger body of information is now available to enhance and complete the story begun by Dr. Ezell.  Of course, as any historian knows, access to information is only part of the battle.  After all, the National Archives are stuffed to the gills with documents, records and primary source materials that haven't seen the light of day in dozens of years.  True genius, however, is found in the ability to integrate the new information with the old, and present it in an organized, cogent and easily assimilable format.   And this is just the type of genius displayed in Collector Grade Publications' newest offering, Kalashnikov, the Arms and the Man:  A Revised and Expanded Edition of the AK47 Story.

Taking the original AK47 Story as a point of departure, the editorial staff at Collector Grade, assisted by  luminaries of the 20th century firearms universe such as Dr. Alexander Degtyarev, Dr. Anatoliy Shishkin, Wolfhart Fritze, Thomas Nelson, Dr. Philippe Regenstreif, Valery Shilin, Herbert Woodend, Vladimir Makarov and Markku Palokangas has provided much more than a mere second edition.   Deductions and educated guesses are corroborated and corrected with newly release facts.  Relevant information, insights, and anecdotes unavailable to Dr. Ezell is carefully woven into the text so as to enrich without disturbing the tenor and flow of the original content.   The new book also continues from where the earlier edition ends, during the latter part of the Cold War in the mid-1980's, bringing the Kalashnikov saga along some fifteen years into the early 21st century.

Organizationally the book is a masterful melding of the earlier edition's dissertational framework with the vignette structure pioneered and perfected by Collector Grade.  As we've noted in previous reviews of Collector Grade Publications' offerings, by breaking complex subject matter down into short vignettes of three to six paragraphs, coupled with profuse and relevant illustrations, concepts and minutiae are made much more accessible and easy to assimilate for both the casual reader and the true technophile.  The book is broken into four major parts.  Part one discusses the Russian (and later Soviet) struggle to establish a domestic production capacity able to meet the voracious appetite of the Russian (both Imperial and Red) Army's for small arms both in peace and in war.  Part two covers the design origins of the Kalashnikov avtomat and the evolution of the AK47.  The part spans the prototypes (which were chambered for an earlier, 7.62x41mm variant of the M43 cartridge), through the different modifications and manufacturing techniques which led to the adoption of the AK74 in 1974, and the eventual offering of the "century series" AK rifles in the 1990's.  In keeping with the Soviet predilection towards families of armament systems based on a common platform, the Kalashnikov system has been the basis for an entire spectrum of small arms, from submachineguns (AKS-74U) to light machineguns (RPK, RPK-74) to general purpose belt-fed machineguns (PKM), and sniper rifles (SVD).

Part three explores the Soviet Union's position as one of the world's leading exporters of military hardware and technology.  The book follows the spread of the Kalashnikov system's influence throughout the Warsaw Pact, Communist Asia, and through such "western" nations as Finland, Israel, India and South Africa.  Summing up part three is one of the most (if not the most) authoritative, and well illustrated technical discussions of the Soviet Union's intermediate cartridges that we've had the pleasure to read.  Indeed, part three could very well stand on its own merits as both a history and a scholarly reference.  However, the book's real gem is part four, entitled "The Aftermath."  This part continues where the earlier edition left off, and does so in an intensely personal way.

Part four's story begins in 1972 with a letter from Dr. Ezell to Mikhail Kalashnikov.  The letter, which contained a number of queries about Kalashnikov's career, was answered, much to Dr. Ezell's surprise about thirteen months later.  In the years between 1972 and 1986 the correspondence continued, and Ezell sent copies of his books (Small Arms of the World, Handguns of the World, and The AK47 Story) to Kalashnikov.  Ezell was to finally meet Kalashnikov, during a trip to the Soviet Union with a team of videohistorians from the Smithsonian in 1989.  The two met again, this time the United States during May, 1990. The second trip was sponsored by members of the Virginia Gun Collector's Association (VGCA) and the NORVA hunting club, and included a meeting with the designer of the M16 assault rifle, Eugene Stoner.  The trip, Kalashnikov's first abroad, was an incredible journey in many ways.  On Kalashnikov's meeting with Stoner, Ezell wrote:

It turned out that they had a good deal in common.  Both were self made men, who had gone to work right out of high school.  Both had served in their country's armed forces, and both had been fascinated by arms designs from an early age.  Both men are relaxed individuals who are secure in their own personal accomplishments.  There was no attempt by either to upstage the other, and I got the strong impression that both men enjoyed the opportunity to meet the "competition."  Kalashnikov was amazed to learn that Stoner had received no "state" prizes from the American government for his small arms design work.  He was also surprised to know that Stoner is a pilot and that he has owned his own helicopters and jet aircraft in the past.  Both men discovered that their respective societies rewarded the creative designer in very different fashions.  Stoner had earned a good deal of money from his creative work, but his name was not as famous as Kalashnikov's.  On the other hand, Kalashnikov was a social hero in the USSR, and had received many perquisites, but he was by no means a rich man.

I was shooting the M16 not only here in the United States, but I had an opportunity to shoot it before [in the Soviet Union].  My impressions [about the weapon] are good.  I wanted to get acquainted with the designer of the M16.  I have had a chance at long last, and have spent nine unforgettable days with him.  We talked about life, and about our work.  Our careers are very similar.  Eugene Stoner is a very good and open-hearted man, and he is a great designer in your country.  The M16 is a fine weapon.

In addition to the quality of the writing, the book's multifaceted nature is one of its greatest strengths.  It is, a true renaissance work, blending many academic disciplines seamlessly to create a comprehensive approach to the history of Mikhail Kalashnikov and the arms that are his legacy.  Kalashnikov, the Arms and the Man is as much a political history as it is a technical history; it is as much biography as social history; and it is as much economic history as textbook.

CONCLUSION
Kalashnikov, the Arms and the Man is, in effect, the work of the gun book "dream team."  The recipe is simple:  Start with a seminal work of firearms history written by one of the most respected academics in the fields of firearm history and technology.  Add sixteen years, thousands of pages of hitherto classified state documents, and the personal recollections of people intimately involved with the design and development of Kalashnikov system arms.  Mix until smoothly blended under the supervision of an editorial staff with more than twenty years experience in producing technical histories.  Garnish liberally with relevant illustration, and serve warm.  The combination is hard to beat, and we suggest you don't try.  Rather, we suggest that you get a copy and settle into a comfortable chair for a sumptuous "meal" that will be both filling and satisfying.
 

Kalashnikov, the Arms and the Man:  A Revised and Expanded Edition of the AK47 Story is available  from Collector Grade Publications.  Click on the image to order:
 

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