educational, yet inspirational in ways
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.

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.

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