The History Of Sniping And Sharpshooting
Plaster’s sprawling, copiously illustrated history of sniping as a military strategy pays special attention to the requisite skills involved. Starting with the advent of shoulder arms, Plaster describes technological innovations that allowed for ever-greater accuracy and distance, noting, for instance, an early reference to rifling in a 1476 Italian armory inventory that mentions “spiral grooved barrels” and discoursing lovingly on the development and use of the flintlock firing mechanism. Among the historical nuggets unearthed is the fact that according to a U.S. Army study, “not a single German general was lost to a sniper in the West during World War II, but three generals were killed on the Eastern Front by Russian snipers,” which attests to Red Army marksmanship but also the “wide red stripe on the pants legs” of the German generals’ uniforms—shades of Yankees picking off Red Coats in the American Revolution! Consider this powerful, well-researched work an essential resource on one mainstay of military science and a lavish picture book sure to please ordnance fans. --Mike Tribby