ISBN-13: 9781250094360 / Angielski / Miękka / 1996 / 352 str.
ISBN-13: 9781250094360 / Angielski / Miękka / 1996 / 352 str.
An acclaimed military historian leads you into the world of the combat sniper-on the safe side of the crosshairs...From the black-powder chaos of the American Revolution to the bitter carnage of Vietnam, he is a presence as familiar to war as death itself. He is the combat sniper-revered as the ultimate warrior by some and reviled as a monster by those who have known the terror of his invisible ambush.As the "Wild Boys" who crawled the no-man's-land between the trenches in WWI, terrorizing the enemy and dodging fire from the shelter of shell craters.As the officer-hunting German snipers is WWII's Normandy-so unnerving that hardened commanders began to disguise their rank.As the men who boasted a shot/ill ration of 1.7 to 1 in Vietnam-a figure that was 50,000 to 1 among general soldiers.From the evolution of the art, to firsthand accounts of legendary exploits, through the basics of sniper training, Sniper traces the development of these feared huntsmen, marking their historical battles and their pivotal role in modern forces.Includes 8 pages of authentic action photographs
Modern warfare is an impersonal business over which one has little direct control. But for the sniper it is a deadly one-on-one confrontation in which he may have to wait motionless for days before firing a single shot - a shot that can change the outcome of a single battle or even a war. In Sniper, military historian Adrian Gilbert presents a comprehensive study of combat sniping in all its facets. He examines its historical background - from snipings origins in the American Revolution to its establishment as a tactical discipline during the World Wars as well as technical developments - from the development of the sniper rifle and the importance of ammunition to the impact of the electronic revolution that has enabled the sniper to see in the dark and locate a target with pinpoint accuracy. Extensive eyewitness accounts - from the WWII sniper battles between the Wehrmacht and the Red Army, to the long-range firefights of Vietnam, to the recent Gulf conflict - provide the reader with valuable insights into the reality of combat sniping. Sniper is the authoritative study of this most crucial of modern military arts.