Sniper: The Skills, the Weapons, and the Experiences

by Adrian Gilbert

A profile of the world of the combat sniper offers readers a perspective on their endeavors in World War II and Vietnam with a collection of firsthand accounts that describe training, historical battles, and modern-day roles. Reprint.

Genres: Nonfiction, Military Fiction, History, War

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Adrian Gilbert is a British author and historian who writes primarily on the subject of military history – particularly relating to wars of the 20th century.

Reviews

[Grand Nerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview of sniping, covering many topics.

[Andy Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an excellent introduction to the subject of sniping. If you already know a lot about the subject or have military experience then you might prefer something a bit more technical, but as a total newcomer who has a general interest in military topics, I thought it was great.

The book has a fairly small section detailing the various sniper rifles that have been popular over the last century, and a smaller section on ammunition, and I found these both to be a bit dull and dry. However, the vast majority of the book avoids this problem very well. It discusses the development of the sniper as a specialised role and the progression of rifle technology from the American Civil War through to modern conflicts. The training of a sniper, his position within the military organisation and the attitude of a good sniper are all also discussed.

It's clear that the author has done a lot of research, and gives a lot of references and a comprehensive bibliography if you want to find out more about a particular subject. Overall, a great book.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book from my son-in-law who is in the Navy. It was a surprisingly good read. It was fasinating to learn the history of sniping and read the technical details of rifles, ammunition and warfare.

[Derek Asmus · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Sniper book is a true book that tells how the history of sniping has changed over the last 200 years. Its very interesting about the facts of sniping and its evolved. The most important thing that has changed through the rifle part is putting rifling.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides a lot of details about the training and deployment of snipers in the field. It also gives a brief history of sniping from the Revolutionary War through the War in Afghanistan.

[Keith Zuniga · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book on the history of sniping

[John Poulain · Rating 2 out of 5]

Has some interesting background about the history of Sniping not particularly memorable.

[Craig Wanderer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting book which is delves into both the historical as well as Modern aspect of Sniping.
I love his objection ism while writing about Hathcock and of course the Famous Duel in "Enemy of the Gates" especially.