Thirty-six months in combat. Twenty-four years as a sniping instructor. Twenty years of exhaustive research including decades spent seeking out hundreds of historic volumes long out of print test-firing historic firearms walking Revolutionary & Civil War battlefields with a laser rangefinder & visiting military museums in the United States & Europe. Only Major John Plaster author of the highly acclaimed The Ultimate Sniper has the background & knowledge to bring you this authoritative history of sniping & sharpshooting
- the first such book from a combat riflemans unique perspective. In The History of Sniping & Sharpshooting John Plaster has assembled the most comprehensive combat history ever published on the subject. It begins in the 15th century with the first use of precision" musket fire in Europe & continues into the 21st century with the significant role sniping is playing the Iraq & Afghanistan & the global War on Terror. Detailing major engagements & minor skirmishes over five centuries of warfare Plaster has unearthed hundreds of incidents where calculated precision rifle fire has changed the course of battles
- & sometimes history. He fittingly addresses well-known sharpshooters & snipers
- Hiram Berdan Vasili Zaitsev Carlos Hathcock
- but also pays tribute to forgotten riflemen such as John Burns Benjamin Forsyth & Arthur Wermuth to name but a few. He also explains how the evolution of firearms & optical technology has intertwined with sniping on the battlefield & how it has influenced tactics organizations & capabilities
- a subject that has never before been address adequately."




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International stained glass expert Virginia Raguin traces the emergence of stained glass as a unique art form through an examination of its techniques & symbolism & the political & historical contexts both ecclesiastical & secular in which it has been displayed. From Romanesque to Gothic Revival Renaissance to Opalesque Virginia Raguin reveals her profound knowledge of the naunces of style & the aesthetics of light in this compelling field. ...

Matt Warshaw knows more about surfing that any other person on the planet. After five years of research & writing Warshaw has completed a totally unprecedented history of the sport & the culture it has spawned. With a voice that is definitive funny & wholly original The History of Surfing delivers the ultimate book for surfers everywhere. ...

In a bestselling work of profound & lasting importance the late Albert Hourani told the definitive history of the Arab people from the seventh century when the new religion of Islam began to spread from the Arabian Peninsula westwards to the present day. It is a masterly distillation of a lifetime of scholarship & a unique insight into a perpetually troubled region. This updated edition by Malise Ruthven adds a substantial new chapter which

Includes:: recent events such as 9/11 the US invasion of Iraq & its bloody aftermath the fall of the Mubarak & Ben Ali regimes in Egypt & Tunisia & the incipient civil war in Syria bringing Houranis magisterial History up to date. Ruthven suggests that while Hourani can hardly have been expected to predict in detail the massive upheavals that have shaken the Arab world recently he would not have been entirely surprised given the persistence of the kin-patronage networks he describes in his book & the challenges now posed to them by a new media-aware generation of dissatisfied youth. In a new biographical preface Malise Ruthven shows how Houranis perspectives on Arab history were shaped by his unique background as an English-born Arab Christian with roots in the Levant.

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The first issue of The Beano was published on July 30 1938. This is the first-ever history of the best-known British comic of all time reflecting on 70 memorable years. The History of The Beano charts all the characters who have appeared over the years as well as the editors artists & writers--past & present--who have contributed to this great comic institution. ...

A History of the English Language explores the linguistic & cultural development of English from the Roman conquest of England to the present day to provide a comprehensive overview of the different aspects of its history. This best-selling classic textbook has been revised & updated & encourages the reader to develop both an understanding of present-day English & an enlightened attitude toward the issues affecting the language today. New features of the sixth edition include: an additional chapter titled English in the Twenty-first Century which examines the future of English & other global languages &

Includes:: an assessment of Chinese as a world language an in-depth treatment of phonological changes such as the placement of the Great Vowel Shift as a bridge between Middle English & Renaissance English further coverage of corpus linguistics especially for Renaissance English fresh sections on accent & register a new survey of the recent debate between creolists" & "neo-Anglicists" on the origins of African American Vernacular English. Balanced & wide-ranging this textbook is a must-read for any student studying the history of the English language"

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A major new examination of how J.R.R. Tolkien came to write his original masterpiece The Hobbit including his complete unpublished draft version of the story & many little-known illustrations & previously unpublished maps by Tolkien himself. The History of the Hobbit presents for the first time in two volumes the complete unpublished text of the original manuscript of J.R.R. Tolkiens The Hobbit accompanied by John Rateliffs lively & informative account of how the book came to be written & published. As well as recording the numerous changes made to the story both before & after publication it examines
- chapter-by-chapter
- why those changes were made & how they reflect Tolkiens ever-growing concept of Middle-earth. The Hobbit was first published on 21 September 1937. Like its successor The Lord of the Rings it is a story that grew in the telling" & many characters & story threads in the published text are completely different from what Tolkien first wrote to read aloud to his young sons as part of their "fireside reads". As well as reproducing the original version of one of literatures most famous stories both on its own merits & as the foundation for The Lord of the Rings this new book

Includes:: many little-known illustrations & previously unpublished maps for The Hobbit by Tolkien himself. Also featured are extensive annotations & commentaries on the date of composition how Tolkiens professional & early mythological writings influenced the story the imaginary geography he created & how Tolkien came to revise the book years after publication to accommodate events in The Lord of the Rings. Like Christopher Tolkiens The History of The Lord of the Rings before it this is a thoughtful yet exhaustive examination of one of the most treasured stories in English literature. Long overdue for a classic book now celebrating 70 years in print this companion edition offers fascinating new insights for those who have grown up with this enchanting tale & will delight those who are about to enter Bilbos round door for the first time."



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The second half of a major new examination of how J.R.R. Tolkien came to write his original masterpiece The Hobbit including his complete unpublished draft version of the story & many little-known illustrations & previously unpublished maps by Tolkien himself. The History of the Hobbit presents for the first time in two volumes the complete unpublished text of the original manuscript of J.R.R. Tolkiens The Hobbit accompanied by John Rateliffs lively & informative account of how the book came to be written & published. As well as recording the numerous changes made to the story both before & after publication it examines
- chapter-by-chapter
- why those changes were made & how they reflect Tolkiens ever-growing concept of Middle-earth. As well as reproducing the original version of one of literatures most famous stories both on its own merits & as the foundation for The Lord of the Rings this new book

Includes:: many little-known illustrations & previously unpublished maps for The Hobbit by Tolkien himself. Also featured are extensive annotations & commentaries on the date of composition how Tolkiens professional & early mythological writings influenced the story the imaginary geography he created & how Tolkien came to revise the book years after publication to accommodate events in The Lord of the Rings. This second volume picks up Bilbo Baggins story half-way through his journey & chronicles how after much adversity he must still face the mighty dragon Smaug carry out the burglary for which he has been recruited & return safely home to Bag-End. But not everything goes to plan...



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In one volume for the first time this revised & updated examination of how J.R.R. Tolkien came to write his original masterpiece The Hobbit

Includes:: his complete unpublished draft version of the story together with notes & illustrations by Tolkien himself. For the first time in one volume The History of the Hobbit presents the complete unpublished text of the original manuscript of J.R.R. Tolkiens The Hobbit accompanied by John Rateliffs lively & informative account of how the book came to be written & published. As well as recording the numerous changes made to the story both before & after publication it examines
- chapter-by-chapter
- why those changes were made & how they reflect Tolkiens ever-growing concept of Middle-earth. The Hobbit was first published on 21 September 1937. Like its successor The Lord of the Rings it is a story that grew in the telling" & many characters & story threads in the published text are completely different from what Tolkien first wrote to read aloud to his young sons as part of their "fireside reads". As well as reproducing the original version of one of literatures most famous stories both on its own merits & as the foundation for The Lord of the Rings this new book

Includes:: many little-known illustrations & previously unpublished maps for The Hobbit by Tolkien himself. Also featured are extensive annotations & commentaries on the date of composition how Tolkiens professional & early mythological writings influenced the story the imaginary geography he created & how Tolkien came to revise the book years after publication to accommodate events in The Lord of the Rings. Like Christopher Tolkiens The History of The Lord of the Rings before it this is a thoughtful yet exhaustive examination of one of the most treasured stories in English literature. Long overdue for a classic book now celebrating 75 years in print this companion edition offers fascinating new insights for those who have grown up with this enchanting tale & will delight those who are about to enter Bilbos round door for the first time."





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Contrary to what we have been told the Maginot Line functioned perfectly & did everything that was expected of it. After the war the Maginot Line wrongly became the ideal scapegoat for the greatest military & political disaster ever suffered by France. ...