Sniper-The World of Combat Sniping

by Adrian Gilbert

1994

Description

An acclaimed military historian leads you into the world of the combat sniper-on the safe side of the crosshairs... From the black-powder chaos of the American Revolution to the bitter carnage of Vietnam, he is a presence as familiar to war as death itself. He is the combat sniper-revered as the ultimate warrior by some and reviled as a monster by those who have known the terror of his invisible ambush. As the "Wild Boys" who crawled the no-man's-land between the trenches in WWI, terrorizing the enemy and dodging fire from the shelter of shell craters. As the officer-hunting German snipers is WWII's Normandy-so unnerving that hardened commanders began to disguise their rank. As the men who boasted a shot/ill ration of 1.7 to 1 in Vietnam-a figure that was 50,000 to 1 among general soldiers. From the evolution of the art, to firsthand accounts of legendary exploits, through the basics of sniper training, Sniper traces the development of these feared huntsmen, marking their historical battles and their pivotal role in modern forces. Includes 8 pages of authentic action photographs!… (more)

Library's review

Modern warfare is an impersonal business over which one has little direct control. But for the sniper it is a deadly one-on-one confrontation in which he may have to wait motionless for days before firing a single shot-a shot that can change the outcome of a single battle or even a war.
In Sniper,
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military historian Adrain Gilbert presents a comprehensive study of combat sniping in all its facets. He examines its historical background-from sniping's origins in the American Revolution to its establishement as a tactical discipline during the World Wars as well as technical developments-from the development of the snper rifle and the importance of ammunition to the impact of the elecronic revoluton that has enabled the sniper to see in the dark and locate a target with pinpoint accuracy.

Extensive eyewitness accounts-from the WWII sniper battles between the Wehrmacht and the Red Army, to the long-range firefights of Vietnam, to the recent Gulf conflicts-provide the reader with valuable insights into the reality of combat sniping. Sniper is the authoritative study of this most crucial of modern military arts.

Adrian Gilbert is a military historian who has written extensively on modern warfare. He lives in England.

Contents

Acknowledgments
Figures in thetext
Introduction
A note on measurements
Part One The historical background
1 Fiflemen and skirmishers
2 The American Civil War
3 Sniping and nineteenth-century technology
Part Two Sniping in the two world wars
4 The sniper emerges: 1914-16
Trench warfare
Gallipoli adventure
Violence and moderation
5 A fully-fledged article: The sniper 1916-18
The new professionals
Sniper versus sniper
Camouflage and observation
6 The second world war
Opening rounds
Barbarossa and after
War in the West
Sniping in the Pacific
Part Three The modern sniper
7 The Korean War
8 Wound ballistics
9 The war in Vietnam
Snipers from the North
The Marine Corps response
The Army sniper programme
Technology and th esniper
10 British sniping after 1945
11 The basics of sniper training
Marksmanship
Field trainng
Sniper employment
12 The sniper training course
13 Sniping in recent conflicts
14 The sniper today
Part Four Weapons of war
15 Rifles
16 Ammunition
Notes
Bibliography
Index
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ISBN

283061650

Publication

Sidgwick & Jackson London

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