Martin Pegler – författare

In 1836, Samuel Colt changed the face of warfare with the production of the first of a series of iconic and influential single-action revolvers, including the .44-calibre Colt Walker and the seminal .45-calibre Colt Single Action Army.These weapons shifted the role of the pistol from single-shot weapon of last resort to a practical and powerful sidearm that gave the user the ability to defend himself once his primary armament was discharged. It transformed cavalry tactics and relegated the sword to a largely ceremonial role in many armies.Featuring full-colour artwork, expert analysis and gripping first-hand accounts, this is the absorbing story of Colt’s family of single-action revolvers, covering their origins, development, use and lasting impact on the modern world.

Winchester lever-action repeating rifles are an integral part of the folklore of the American West.Introduced after the American Civil War, the first Winchester, the M1866, would go on to see military service as far afield as Bulgaria, but it was in the hands of civilians that it would become known as ‘The gun that won the west’.Offering a lethal combination of portability, ruggedness and ammunition interchangeability with pistol sidearms, the Winchesters and their innovative and elegant breech-loading system represented a revolutionary design. They were used by a staggering variety of military and civilian groups - gold-miners, trappers, hunters, farmers, lawmen, professional gunmen and Native Americans. It equipped a whole generation of settlers and as such left an imprint on American culture that continues to resonate today.This book explores the Winchesters’ unique place in history, revealing the technical secrets of their success with a full array of colour artwork, period illustrations and close-up photographs.

At the outset of the American Civil War, the Union Army's sharpshooters were initially equipped with the M1855 Colt revolving rifle, but it was prone to malfunction.Instead, the North’s sharpshooters preferred the Sharps rifle, an innovative breech-loading weapon capable of firing up to ten shots per minute – more than three times the rate of fire offered by the standard-issue Springfield .58-caliber rifled musket. Other Union sharpshooters were equipped with the standard-issue Springfield rifled musket or the .56-56-caliber Spencer Repeating Rifle.Conversely, the Confederacy favoured the Pattern 1853 Enfield rifled musket for its sharpshooters and also imported from Britain the Whitworth Rifle, a .45-caliber, single-shot, muzzle-loading weapon distinguished by its use of a twisted hexagonal barrel.Featuring specially commissioned artwork, this is the engrossing story of the innovative rifles that saw combat in the hands of sharpshooters on both sides during the Civil War.

The Soviet Union had developed a significant sniping force by 1939, but the extraordinary skill and cunning displayed by Finnish snipers during the Winter War forced the Soviets to innovate.On the other side, German sniping suffered from a lack of standardization of weapons and a lack of marksmen deployed at the start of the Great Patriotic War (1941–45). There were few heroes in the conflict, but on both sides, the snipers were idolized – especially on the Soviet side, gaining almost mythical status.As well as traditional bolt-action weapons, both sides used several types of semi-automatic rifle, such as the SVT-38 and the Gew 41. Offering greater firepower at the expense of long-range accuracy, such weapons would be profoundly influential in the postwar world.Fully illustrated, this absorbing study investigates the development of sniping weapons and techniques on World War II’s Eastern Front.

While Germany and Austria-Hungary were well-equipped with sniping rifles in 1914, their Allied opponents were not.Although military sharpshooting had existed since the 18th century, in 1914 only the German and Austro-Hungarian armies fielded trained snipers armed with scoped rifles. Thus upon the outbreak of World War I, the Allied armies found themselves on the receiving end of a shooting war to which they had no means of response. Only the Canadians brought a dedicated sniping rifle into the trenches, but in small numbers.For the British, although production of a suitable rifle and scope were settled on quickly, the establishment of sniper training was difficult and its success was mostly due to the efforts of a handful of dedicated officers. The French eventually introduced a competent scoped rifle and a sniper training system, as did the Italians. Entering the war in 1917, the Americans experienced rifle shortages but were able to build on their pre-1914 efforts to find a suitable sniping weapon. The country that suffered most grievously was Russia; Russian troops fielded no snipers at all and suffered accordingly.Featuring full-colour artwork, carefully chosen archive images and photographs of the sniping rifles and accessories used in the trenches, this is the inside story of the rifles carried by snipers of all the major powers during World War I.

The apocalyptic clashes of culture between the land-hungry whites and the American Indians, which reached their climax in the latter half of the nineteenth century, were among the most tragic of all wars ever fought. These conflicts pitted one civilization against another, neither able to comprehend or accommodate the other. To the victor went domination of the continent, to the vanquished the destruction of their way of life. This volume describes those who took part in these wars, focusing on the Plains Indians such as the Sioux and the Cheyenne, the Apache peoples of the south-west, and their implacable foe, the US Cavalry.

The world’s first self-powered machine gun, the Maxim gun became a potent symbol of Victorian colonialism in the closing years of the 19th century.It was the brainchild of Sir Hiram Maxim, the American-born firearms inventor who founded the company bearing his name with financing from Albert Vickers, who became the company’s chairman; Maxim’s company was absorbed by Vickers, Sons and Company in 1897.Subsequent variants in British, German and Russian service – the .303in Vickers (1912), 7.92mm MG 08 (1908) and 7.62mm PM M1910, respectively – dominated both the Eastern and Western Fronts during World War I and soldiered on into World War II, while the Vickers remained in front-line British service essentially unchanged until 1968. Featuring specially commissioned full-colour artwork and written by a noted authority, this is the engaging story of the Maxim and its descendants, the innovative rapid-fire weapons that saw combat with British, German, Russian and other forces in the late Victorian era and throughout the world wars.

Growing up in a working-class family in Manchester, Harry Furness joined the army in 1939 at the age of 16. Having always been captivated by the stories of First World War snipers, he immediately volunteered for sniper training when the army began to recruit soldiers in 1941. He did exceptionally well, qualifying as a marksman whilst a pre-war army cadet and was quickly promoted to lance corporal.Just prior to D-Day, he was promoted to corporal in the Green Howards Regiment and landed at Gold Beach on 6th June 1944. Together, he and his comrades began a hard fight across North-West Europe, gradually moving through Northern France, Belgium, Holland and eventually into Germany as they pushed the Germans back towards the Rhine.The manifold dangers and occasional humour of Harry Furness’s experiences of war come across in a very matter-of-fact but compelling way in the dozens of previously unpublished letters, personal interviews and images that make up Martin Pegler’s fascinating, moving biography of Furness and his extraordinary life.

It was only in World War I that the combination of high quality service rifles and new telescopic sights brought the true 'sniper' to the battlefield as a distinct specialist.By 1918 the scout-sniper's value as an observer and gatherer of intelligence was as important as his lethal skills, but these were disregarded in the interwar years. From 1939-45 most armies had to train and equip snipers from scratch, but they were to play a major role in all theatres of war. Famously, on the Russian Front it was a role in which women excelled.This illustrated history recounts the development of weapons, sights, tactics and clothing in all the major armies, from Flanders to the Gulf.

The Thompson submachine gun, or Tommy gun, developed an almost iconic status during the 20th century.Developed during the dying days of World War I as a 'one-man, hand-held machine gun', the prototypes never saw service in Europe, but once the M1921 Thompson formally entered production it was used by the criminals working in Chicago and New York during the 1920s. With the police increasingly outgunned they too were forced to equip themselves with the Tommy gun.It quickly came to be used in Hollywood films. Yet, once the US entered World War II, the Thompson submachine gun began a second career as part of the US Army. It also became the weapon of choice for the small band of British commandos as they conducted a number of daring raids against the heart of occupied Europe.Covering these various usages, this is a fascinating and insightful development history of an iconic weapon that virtually spanned the 20th century from the close of World War I to the Yugoslav War.

A technical outline of the history of the sniper rifle, from its introduction in warfare during the Napoleonic wars, through the US Civil War to Iraq and Afghanistan.This book details the development of ammunition, different weapons types including single shot, magazine loading and semi-automatic, as well as the introduction and use of optical sights. Martin Pegler, a leading expert on the history of sniping, also details the current advances in technology, such as laser range-finding sights and night vision devices.Using first-hand accounts, the book brings the dangerous world of the sniper to life revealing their training and concealment techniques as well as their mastering of their weapon of choice.

The Lee-Enfield is one of the 20th century's most recognisable and longest-serving military rifles.It was adopted by the British Army in 1895 and only replaced by the L1A1 SLR in 1957. It saw combat from the Boer War onwards, and some are still in use in the 21st century; it is estimated that 17 million have been produced. Soldier's recollections of the rifle are overwhelmingly affectionate (it was known as the Smellie); today it remains a very popular target rifle for competitive shooting, and modern copies are being manufactured to meet demand.Featuring first-hand accounts, full-colour artwork and close-up photographs, this is the story of the Lee-Enfield, the innovative, reliable and long-lived rifle that equipped British and other forces through the world wars and beyond.

The period 1865-90 was one of unparalleled change in American frontier history.This span of 25 years witnessed the end of the traditional nomadic lifestyle of the plains Indians, the colonisation of the West by white settlers, and the first experience of the US army in fighting a form of irregular warfare for which its soldiers and commanders were untrained, and its equipment unsuited. That they acquitted themselves so well in the face of bureaucratic meddling, poor supply and appalling climatic conditions, speaks highly of the tenacity and physical toughness of the volunteers who served in the West.This illustrated guide explores the role of the US cavalryman during these tumultuous years.