A Rifleman Went to War [Hardcover]

H. W. McBride (Author), Jeff Cooper (Foreword)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0935856013 | ISBN-13: 978-0935856019 | Publication Date: September 1, 1987 | Edition: 4th

2010 Reprint of 1935 edition. This classic work on sniping is considered the first and some say the most influential book in print about sniping and the art of being a military sniper on the battlefield. McBride's book was seminal in the development of U.S. military sniping doctrine in WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and on to the present day. The U.S. Marine Corps Sniper School has made this book mandatory reading for its would-be snipers.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 425 pages
• Publisher: Lancer Militaria; 4th edition (September 1, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0935856013
• ISBN-13: 978-0935856019
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #873,914 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No "sob stuff" here!, January 2, 2004

By 

M. Dog (Everywhere and Nowhere) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: A Rifleman Went to War (Hardcover)

This is a great WWI memoir, and it gives some incredible insights the makings of a great soldier. As one might expect, Mr. McBride was an extremely tough, brave man. However, this book makes it clear that there are some other, less obvious qualities to the professional soldier. Contrary to popular believe, imagination and individual initiative are among them. Most importantly, though, is a particular mindset. I leave it to McBride to put it best:

"Hatred is a slow, calculating, cold-blooded business. There is no time for it in battle . . . I assure you that when I was behind the rifle, the principal feeling was one of keen satisfaction and excitement of the same kind that the hunter knows. That's the spirit. That's what makes good rifleman and good soldiers."

If you are looking for poetic prose, look elsewhere. McBride was not an introspective man, full of soulful wanderings about the horrors of war. This soldier was thrilled and eager to participate in war, and joined the Canadian force because his home country, America, was too slow to enter the fray for his tastes. He described the mud of the trenches and the sound a bullet makes striking a human head in hatchet-like, blunt sentences.

There is the satisfaction, though, that this lover of war told you the hard truth in every word he wrote. Another reviewer called this book "refreshing" and I will second that.

In one segment of the book, McBride describes his distaste for a current war movie of the time of the book's writing, the classic "All Quite On The Western Front." While McBride complemented the scenes of actual battle, the whole show was ruined for him by the depiction of men in battle. The constant emotions, and, as he wrote of them, "facial contortions" exhibited by the actors where in his view ridiculous. Men died quickly, fought hard, and killed one another without a lot of fuss, or "sob stuff," as he called it.

I believe H.W. McBride is telling me the truth.

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First hand account of an American sniper in WW1, July 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Rifleman Went to War (Hardcover)

McBride's "A Rifleman Went to War" could be used as a sniper's manual. McBride was in fact a machine gunner (he wrote a book about that called "The Emma Gees"), but him and his Canadian buddies engaged in sniping and trench raids for recreation.

This book is an excellent account, and is just about as un-PC as you can get. McBride does not feel that war is simply "bad", but that it is a symphony of emotions. He killed many Germans, and he makes no apologies.

This book is not without its shortcomings. McBride does not have a crisp, 'modern' writing style, and he is a highly biased anglophile. Despite these problems, I think anyone who has an interest in World War 1, sniping, or the combat use of the rifle should have this book.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Seminal Work, June 12, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: A Rifleman Went to War (Hardcover)

Anyone familiar with the Chandlers' "Death from Afar" series knows that McBride's book was seminal in the development of U.S. military sniping doctrine in WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and on to the present day. What is less well-known is that McBride's thoughts on "The Pistol in War" (Chapter 10) were key to the development of Jeff Cooper's "Modern Technique of the Pistol" and that McBride's discussion of the "neatest and handiest military rifle I have ever seen" (pp. 335-6) provided the basis for Cooper's "Scout Rifle" concept. This book should be in the library of every serious student of shooting.