Customer Reviews

Sniper: Master of Terrain, Technology, And Timing, He Is A Hunter Of Human Prey And The Military's Most Feared Fighter.

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mr. Gilbert's book is remarkably thorough and well-researched. It includes an amazingly thorough bibliography and a fairly extensive listing of sniper rifles in use today.

The book starts with a history of sniping, and is very fair and balanced in its coverage. Unlike some books, Mr. Gilbert doesn't fall into the "we're the good guys and everyone else is slime" bias. For each war he talks plainly about which side was doing what, and how well it worked or didn't.

I found the chapter on Ammo particularly interesting, as it clearly describes bullets and their performance characteristics, including what happens when the hit something.

I take issue with some reviewers who suggest that this book teaches you about sniping. Although someone wanting to learn to be a sniper could potentially gain certain knowledge from this book, and although it is textbook-like in its tone, it is far from being some sort of how-to book. Someone who truly wanted "how to" specifics would be better off with any one of several books that are specifically written as instruction manuals.

I also take issue with the characterization of this book as an exciting or dramatic read. It is definitely not a page-turner. It describes the action in many wars and battles, but does not take you there with the immediacy of a book like "One Shot, One Kill."

Again, I find myself describing it as being like a textbook. Even though it goes into a lot of detail in many places, it also takes in broad sweeps of history. The best way I can think of to describe it is to say that, in this book, stories about individuals and their actions are brought in as secondary examples to illustrate the author's broader statements or claims. Other books tend to leave off most of the context and focus almost totally on the individuals and some of the actions they were involved in.

This books aims (no pun intended) to be very complete, while others aim to be entertaining ("entertaining" is not the best word to use to describe a book about shooting others, but you get the idea).

Don't get me wrong, though. It IS well-written, mind you! It is clear and factual, organized cleanly, and reasonably readable.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to someone who is seriously into military books or sniping, or even someone who is a student of history, as sniping is an area that is rarely, if ever, even mentioned despite the significant impact it has had in almost all wars or military actions. If you are heavily interested in any of these areas, then you definitely should buy this book. You will enjoy it and appreciate the quality and thoroughness of the book. And you will almost surely learn a lot. Even though I struggled to get through some of the chapters, I was engrossed by other chapters, such as the one on Ammo.

However, if you're not particularly hard-core about the topic, you will probably not be drawn into it and may not even get through more than a couple of chapters before giving up.

This book provides a broad view about sniping in history and today. The author takes the readers through the historical accounts of snipers in the battlefield since 18 century, as well as the basic principles evolved throughout these experiences.

Unlike most of the books on this topic published in America, this British writer does not limit himself to American's view. In stead, he enumerates different views regarding sniping from both sides in a armed conflict. The material about the sniping in the East Front of WWII is probably the most valuable ones in this book.

This is a must read for anyone who is intrested in sniper and sniping.

As a sargeant in the U.S. Marine Corps, and student of military science, I found Mr. Gilbert's book to be a well-rounded history and description of the skills, tactics, and training of military snipers. The book commences with the impact of highly skilled marksmen on the outcome of the American Revolution and Civil War, and how firearms technology developed in the many decades since. The bulk of the history covers the affect of snipers in the major wars of the 20th century. There are also chapters describing marksmanship skills and how modern militaries train personnel in this specialized skill. This book will be enjoyed by military history buffs and sport-shooters in general.

The books focus lies in the development of the sniper system today. Less interesting is the part on training and hardware but it is smaller and more on a general level. Take note however that the book has been edited in England under a similar title. Lots of entertaining sniper stories that together help the reader comprehend the actual circumstances in the battlefield in wich the sniper operates.

This has a lot of historical background, I didn't mind too much reading it in this book, however I became kind of annoyed as I saw the repeated history over and over in other sniper books. I have to disagree with the reviewer who disliked the reading. It was interesting how the sniper came to be, but there are chapters (which really interested me) which covered ballistics, training, qualifications for a sniper, techniques, proper aiming, effects of gravity, mirage, and wind. I thought it was amazing and if you didn't really enjoy it or thought it was interesting, you aren't a true fan of snipers. You can't always just read about blowing people's heads off, sometimes there needs to be straight "here's what they do, and this is the outcome" aspect. This book inspires one to be a sniper through it's stories, makes one respect the sniper for their needed skills, and gives you an understanding of what they do and why they do it. It was an amazing book, even though it was PURE straight forward facts.

Excellent reference work for those intersted in sniping. Also, Gilbert touches on other works which can help enlighten the reader to this unique capability. Well-rounded. I recommend this book.

A thorough study, well written, interesting to read. Especially the part about the early days of sniping. Post WWI conflicts aren't covered in much detail. The chapters on theory of sniping and ammunition are very short to be comprehensive but still offer a decent introduction. The list of books at the end is a useful source for continued reading.

I found this book to be a readable, text-book type of read.
It's a good,comprehensive history of the use of snipers in various wars thoughout history.

It has a history of weapons- from the musket to the modern rifle.
Mr. Gilbert covers the changes and what precipitated those changes in warfare.

He also details the evolution of sniping from the Civil War, Boer War, World Wars I & II, Korea, and Viet Nam. Approaches and use of sniping in various countries are examined.

The material on ammunition and the medical science of wounds are interesting to a common reader curious about the various aspects of sniping.

As expected, the author included some brief experiences from notables like Carlos Hathcock and Chuck Mawhinney.

Mr. Gilbert sums up the ways that sniping has changed on page 191.
"Modern sniper training is essentially a consolidation of lessons learned in the past, from the trenches of the First World War to the jungles of Viet Nam."

Rather than an instruction manual, I view this book as more of a history book. And a good one at that.

This is an excellent book that depicts the historical development of the art(s) of sniping, from the beginning to the modern day snipers who serve under all branches of armed forces. While not as in depth with sniping skills as I would have liked it is none-the-less an extremely interesting read.

A must read for all those interested in the finely developed and most skilled war fighters in the world!

This book provides the reader with the history and a brief background into the subject.