# What are the best books on snipers **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 23, 2009, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-books-on-snipers/522272 "2009-12-23T02:42:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-books-on-snipers/522272/1 "2009-12-23T02:42:52Z")
I was watching the new show about snipers and the technology of sniping and was fasinated by it. But unfortunately a friend came over half way through and talked over most of it. One of the things I liked about this show over others was the focus on guns, bullets, bullet velocities and so on - the technical details. I’m interested in modern snipers/sniping. I enjoy stories about Vasily Grigoryevich Zaytsev and the like but I was hoping I could find out more about our current Marine snipers and their craft and equipment. Can someone name some books on this subject? Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-books-on-snipers/522272/2 "2009-12-23T02:55:57Z")
And yes I know how to spell fascinated. Grrrrr ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-books-on-snipers/522272/3 "2009-12-23T03:26:32Z")
I recommend “Jarhead” by Anthony Swofford, a US Marine Sniper during the first Gulf War. A very engrossing read… ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-books-on-snipers/522272/4 "2009-12-23T04:31:36Z")
“Jarhead” was about a Scout Sniper, and as I recall, he did not fire a shot. I don’t think he went to Sniper School. He was a STA (Surveillance and Target Acquisition) Platoon asset in an infantry battalion, not a Reconnaissance Battalion asset in a Division. Any decent book on Carlos Hathcock would be betterr. Personally I didn’t think the book was well written, and it was more about being a young grunt during those times than real sniping. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-books-on-snipers/522272/5 "2009-12-23T12:28:55Z")
I’ve got [this](http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Sniper-2006-Advanced-Training/dp/B000FN2BSG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261571252&sr=8-1-spell) book. Good read. ---
**Author:** ![Super\_Kapowzler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Super\_Kapowzler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Super_Kapowzler)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-books-on-snipers/522272/6 "2009-12-23T13:22:58Z")
Marine Sniper Carlos Hathcock by charels henderson. Best I’ve read. Dear Mom, ok, about another Viet Nam Sniper, more about the job and less about pulling trigger. Solder’s book based on letters he wrote to his mother. Good to Go, Seals Harry Constance, sniping in Hue, VN, but also contains other stories. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-books-on-snipers/522272/7 "2009-12-23T13:35:55Z")
There’s some good books by a guy called Steven Hunter about a fictional sniper named Bob Swagger, which might interest you. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-books-on-snipers/522272/8 "2009-12-23T15:25:23Z")
I just read [Sniper on the Eastern Front](http://www.amazon.com/Sniper-Eastern-Front-Memoirs-Allerberger/dp/1844153177/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261581533&sr=1-1) a few weeks ago. I don’t know enough to comment on the accuracy, or relevance to you, of its “technical” details about sniping. That being said, I thought it was a terrific book. In addition to being a ‘great read’ - a real page turner - it taught me a lot about life in the Wehrmacht as well opening my eyes to what the common soldier (on both sides) faced on the Eastern front. If you have a weak stomach, though, you might wish to get a different book. This one spares no details about the atrocities that occurred in that arena. ---
**Author:** ![SanDiegoTim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-books-on-snipers/522272/9 "2009-12-23T16:05:35Z")
Agree with “Marine Sniper” being a must read. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2009, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-books-on-snipers/522272/10 "2009-12-24T04:43:51Z")
I forgot to mention in my other post that you’d probably get more responses by putting this in Cafe Society. So, if you’re still looking for answers, maybe you can ask a mod to move this thread over there for you (or, to lock this one and start fresh in Cafe Society). (I hope you don’t mind my unsolicited advice, but I see that you’re still pretty new here and thus may not have considered it.) ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2009, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-books-on-snipers/522272/11 "2009-12-24T05:27:10Z")
> [@Super\_Kapowzler](#): > > Marine Sniper Carlos Hathcock by charels henderson. Best I’ve read. > Dear Mom, ok, about another Viet Nam Sniper, more about the job and less about pulling trigger. Solder’s book based on letters he wrote to his mother. > Good to Go, Seals Harry Constance, sniping in Hue, VN, but also contains other stories. In “Dear Mom,” the author mentions joining up with a friend named David Young. Young was in my platoon in Vietnam. I agree with you about the book being only so-so. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2009, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-books-on-snipers/522272/12 "2009-12-24T16:03:56Z")
Although heavily fictionalized, you might also want to have a look at this movie: [Enemy at the Gates - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enemy_at_the_gates) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-books-on-snipers/522272/13 "2010-01-06T14:24:07Z")
Two new sniper books are being promoted this month by the Military Book Club: _Sniper Ace_ by Bruno Sutkus, about a Wehrmacht sniper on the Eastern Front during WW2, and _Notes of a Russian Sniper_, by Vassili Zaitsev, whose story was fictionalized for the movie _Enemy at the Gates_. ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-books-on-snipers/522272/14 "2010-01-06T15:36:43Z")
snipers = camper noobs ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-books-on-snipers/522272/15 "2010-01-06T23:51:40Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > But unfortunately a friend came over half way through and talked over most of it. That’s only justification for throwing him out – not going all sniper on him! ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-books-on-snipers/522272/16 "2010-01-08T04:37:08Z")
This question might usefully be directed to the good folks at [SnipersOnline](http://www.snipersonline.org/). They have a forum. [GlobalSecurity.org](http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/sniper.htm) has an interesting overview of the military uses of the sniper.