Product Description

Snipers are numbered among the most highly trained and efficient of all trained killers. They can act as lone agents or as part of a strategic military force. From the French sniper who shot Admiral Nelson from the topmast of a French frigate at the battle of Trafalgar, to Lee Harvey Oswald's devastating and unexplained assassination of John F Kennedy in 1963, they have played a crucial - and shadowy - part in our history. Now defence expert Craig Cabell, with weapons archivist, Richard Brown, peel away the mystery surrounding these most deadly of gunmen, to reveal the true nature of the sniper, from the precision strategies used in war to the terror tactics of the infamous Washington 'sniper'. This is an essential book for any military enthusiast.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #309699 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

About the Author
Craig Cabell is the writer of six previous books including biography and military history. For five years he was an in-house reporter with Focus - The House Journal of the Ministry of Defence. However he has been a freelance reporter for over fifteen years, working most notably for the Independent newspaper. As an officer in the Foreign Office Richard Brown worked in the field of military exports, and then continued this theme through his later career with the Ministry of Defence. He now works for a major international defence manufacturer. Snipers is Richard's first non-fiction.

Customer Reviews

Misses the target by a mile
The authors say the idea for this book came to them in the pub. Well, it feels like that is where they wrote it. It's superficial, unstructured, poorly written, and ultimately aimless. They purport to have researched their subject, but there is little evidence of that. The appendix giving descriptions of some sniper weaponry may be of passing interest to some, though no doubt there are far more thorough texts available on that subject. Snipers need to be methodical, focussed, thorough and accurate. This book spectacularly fails to be any of those. A dud.

Oh Dear!!!!!!
Contrary to an earlier reviewers comments I don't believe you have to have been a Military sniper to fully understand the art. What I would say though is I agree with pretty much every other comment he makes. This title is pretty woeful, and that's being kind! The bulk of the technical information is so wildly innacurate it would leave any reader who is a serious student of sniping dismayed. Unfortunately, it's just this sort of half assed attempt at covering what is a highly specialised subject matter that allows the ill informed, and often the press to dub any nutter with a rifle a sniper, when in reality nothing could be further from the truth. Frederick Forsyth is credited with contributing to this book and I can see why, it's as much a work of fiction as Day of the Jackal!!!

I've been researching and studying the role of the specialist for 20+ years and have a library of well over 100 sniping titles and documents. I still don't believe I know enough to write a book on the subject, never mind dream something up over a few pints.

If you're interested in reading a balanced view of the history and development of sniping then try "Out of Nowhere" Martin Pegler.

The opening chapters sum up this book perfectly, I'm sorry Gents but it comes across as nothing more than "Ale house talk by a couple of pub experts"!

Brilliant - a stunning account of snipers
This is a fantastic book that I recommend to anyone even remotely interested in the 'glamour' and mystery of the sniper.

It's written by two guys who clearly know their stuff, from the technical aspects of sniper weapons, the history of snipers on the battlefield, to their use in films and novels.

The chapters on Stalingrad and the Kennedy Assasination are fascinating and moving accounts that explore the psychological and technical aspects of murder and warfare; there is also a fascinating interview with the Washington 'sniper' cop Charles Moose, as well as one with a real sniper.

What's great about this book, apart from the historical and contemporary accounts, is the way the authors engage with their topic without any of the academic solemnity that often makes for dry reading - these guys both love and are appalled by what snipers and their guns can do.

My uncle was a sniper in WW2 and suffered terribly from psychological trauma ever since - read this book and you'll know why.