"Kalashnikov - The Inside Story of the Designer and His Weapons" was originally publishing in Russia in 2009 (Mikhail Kalashnikov's 90th birthday). It was written by his daughter, Elena Kalashnikova, and aims to explain the basic design process behind all of Kalashnikov's small arms, from the original AK-47 through the AKS-74U. Begin written by his daughter and essentially as a gift to him, I was concerned about significant bias or exaggeration in its description, but this does not seem to be a significant issue.

The book begins with some biographical background on Kalashnikov's upbringing and family. It covers each of his small arms designs in sequence, starting with the submachine gun he designed while on convalescent leave in 1942. This and the subsequent failed designs throughout he eventual successful AK-47 comprise half of the book and to my mind this is the most valuable section. Seeing each of these designs presented in context is much more valuable than the typical few photos one normally sees.

The second half of the book covers the AKM, RPK, PK, PKM, AK-74 family, AKS-74U, and AK-100 series. There are a lot of full-color reproductions of photos, documents, and other related material. These are well photographed and well arranged, and the book is very well presented. It also discusses the other members of Kalashnikov's design teams at length, which is very nice to see. The rifle was not a one-man creation, and the others involved rarely get any acknowledgement.

Overall, I think this is an excellent reference that is well worth its cover price of $40. It is sold by Chipotle Publishing, although at the time of this filming it does not appear to be available form their web site. You can find it from them on Amazon, though:

https://amzn.to/3IIhJFG