A cultural and military history of the sniper since 1643, when the first shot was fired by a sniper during the battle for Litchfield in the English Civil War, to the present day, when the sniper has become the embodiment of contemporary military strategy and technology. Since Robert Greville, Lord Brooke, commander of the Parliamentarian forces, was struck in the eye by a marksman positioned on the spire of Litchfield cathedral, the story of the sniper has been one of the gradual empowerment of the individual soldier over the massed battalions. As military technology evolved to produce lighter, and quieter firearms that could strike with accuracy over longer and longer distances, so the role of the talented individual marksman has become more central to the outcome of military conflicts. Andy Dougan tells the story of the sniper as seen in the wars of Vietnam, the first and Second World Wars, the American Civil War, the Boer War and European conflicts and up to the present day when the sniper is not only a battlefield phenomenon but a terrorist in civilian society of almost phantom-like elusiveness.