Sniper Anthology: Snipers of the Second World War

by Martin Pegler, John L. Plaster (Introduction)

For the first time, leading Second World War authors from around the world have collaborated on a definitive anthology of the greatest snipers of the war.

Each author supplies full details of their chosen sniper, including illustrations that have never been published before, to construct a complete and varied picture of sniper warfare. The biographies of these exceptional soldiers include remarkable firsthand accounts of wartime service that provide a graphic insight into a sniper’s lethal skill and vividly illustrate the backdrop of the war.

These gripping narratives will be fascinating reading for anyone who is keen to learn about the role and technique of the sniper during WWII and go beyond the cursory treatment in existing histories.

The contributors include Charles Henderson writing on the myth of Major Koenig, Mark Spicer on Harry Furness, Martin Pegler on Vassili Zaitsev, Charles Strasser on Pavlichenko, Adrian Gilbert on Sepp Allerberger, Leroy Thompson on Captain C Shore, Dan Mills on Private Delvin and Roger Moorhhouse on Simo Haya. Nigel Jones will also contribute.

Genres: War, Nonfiction, World War II

256 pages, Hardcover

First published November 19, 2011

About the author

Martin Pegler has a BA Hons in Medieval and Modern History and an MA in Museum Studies, both from University College, London, and was for many years the Senior Curator of Firearms at the Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds. He now lives in the Somme, France, where he and his wife run a small bed and breakfast, which is situated on top of the old German front line! Martin has established The Somme Historical Centre (www.martinpegler.com), where visitors can see the technology used in the 1914-18 trench warfare. Martin enjoys shooting historic firearms, and has participated in many shooting competitions. He is currently an author and firearms consultant and he also lectures at local Great War museums. In his spare time Martin runs motorcycle tours of the battlefield. He is the author of a number of books including The Military Sniper since 1914 (Osprey, 2001), Firearms in the American West 1700-1900 (The Crowood Press, 2002), and the highly acclaimed Out of Nowhere: A History of the Military Sniper (Osprey, 2004), and he has also contributed to a number of magazines. In the 1980s he had the privilege of interviewing many World War I veterans about their wartime experiences, and the recordings are now part of the sound archives of the Imperial War Museum, London

Reviews

[Derek Falkowsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were a few stories in this book that really got my attention. They highlighted the true gifts of being a Sniper such as: marksmanship, stalking, tracking, patience, and an incredible temperament. Enjoyable read overall.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some sections were easier to read than others, mostly due to the difference of authors. Basically, this was a good read for the subject matter. My father was a sniper in World War II in Europe. He, like many, would never talk about his experiences. This book helped.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

A couple interesting stories.

[Shaun Yap · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

[Jaromír]

I read this in january was educational and entertaining. good

[Ben Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book features several of WW2s greatest or most well-known snipers. There is a good cross-section from most countries involved in the war, as well as male and also female snipers. The book itself goes into a lot of detail about their lives and war history, while also adding in some general information about sniping.

Didn't ever really get into the book, it didn't draw me in as much as I thought it was, but it is basically a collection of short biographies, not a story.

If you're interested in learning more about snipers, then this book is a good place to start.

[Marcus · Rating 2 out of 5]

As title clearly indicates, this book contains a collection of esseys dedicated to sniping during World War II. All except one of the contributions to this collection are short biographies alt. narratives about successful snipers of different nationalities. To be perfectly honest, the material in this book is very, very bland. If you know what to look for, these short bios will reveal tidbits of interesting information of anecdotal variety. But overall they're just 'stories' without real structure nor solid content about sniping.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

only fair. Easy read but style is poor for this topic.