The World's Worst Weapons - book I got for Christmas

[Raellus]

Despite the Stuka's already-mentioned shortcomings, it did continue to serve ably in the CAS and tank-busting roles on the Eastern Front until the Soviets gained air superiority in '44. In some ways, the JU-87 is a spiritual ancestor to today's A-10 Warthog and SU-25.

The AK-47 is widely considered to be the most influential weapon system of the entire 20th century and it will continue to serve well into the 21st. There are no less than three books (not technical manuals, mind you) entirely devoted to the historical significance of the the AK series currently on the shelf at B&N, including the bestselling The Gun, which I just recently finished (it was quite good). Claiming that the AK is one of the world's worst weapons is like claiming that cigarettes are good for your health. That's the kind of senstationalist revisionism that bad historians use to get published. I think that this is an author that I will stay well away from.