The author, a New York Times reporter, traces the invention and mass distribution of the assault rifle, and its effects on war. He traces the invention of the assault rifle, following the miniaturization of rapid-fire arms from the American Civil War, through World War I and Vietnam, to present-day Afghanistan, where Kalashnikovs and their knockoffs number as many as 100 million, one for every seventy persons on earth. It is the weapon of state repression,...

The machine-gun is one of the iconic weapons of the Great War indeed of the twentieth century. Yet it is also one of the most misunderstood. During a four-year war that generated unprecedented casualties, the machine-gun stood out as a key weapon. In the process it took on an almost legendary status that persists to the present day. It shaped the tactics of the trenches, while simultaneously evolving in response to the tactical imperatives thrown...

Traces the history of the machine gun, focusing on the people responsible for its development and describing its uses and integration into the weaponry of military forces around the world.

A high school girl's world comes crashing down when her brother and his friend are killed by ruthless bullies associated with a sinister ninja yakuza family, and then, when the girl goes after her revenge, she loses her left arm -- until two kindly garage mechanics take pity on her and retrofit her with a high-powered machine gun where her arm used to be.