John L. Plaster books

John L. Plaster is a retired Special Forces officer and military historian who has written extensively about sniping and Vietnam War special operations.

Anthologies

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Sniper Anthology: Snipers of the Second World War 2011 Buy

Indochina in the Year of … Reading Order

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Indochina in the Year of the Dragon – 1964 2014 Buy
Indochina in the Year of the Horse – 1966 2016 Buy
Indochina in the Year of the Monkey – 1968 2017 Buy

Non-Fiction

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Ultimate Sniper: An Advanced Training Manual for Military and Police Snipers 1993 Buy
SOG: Secret Wars of America’s Commandos in Vietnam 1997 Buy
SOG: A Photo History of the Secret Wars 2000 Buy
Secret Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines with the Elite Warriors of SOG 2004 Buy
The History of Sniping and Sharpshooting 2008 Buy
Sharpshooting in the Civil War 2009 Buy
Sniping in the Trenches: World War I and the Birth of Modern Sniping 2017 Buy

John L. Plaster is a retired U.S. Army Major who served three tours with the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam - Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG), one of the most secretive special operations units of the Vietnam War. After his military career, he became the foremost historian of SOG, writing multiple books that brought these classified missions to public attention for the first time.

His other major area of expertise is sniping. His book Ultimate Sniper, first published in 1993, has become a standard training reference for military and law enforcement snipers. He has also written histories of sharpshooting across different wars, from the Civil War to World War I. Between his SOG histories and sniping manuals, Plaster has published eleven books over a career spanning more than three decades.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many books has John L. Plaster written?

John L. Plaster has written eleven books across three series.

What was John L. Plaster's first book?

John L. Plaster’s first book is Ultimate Sniper: An Advanced Training Manual for Military and Police Snipers, published in 1993.

What is SOG and why does John L. Plaster write about it?

SOG stands for Studies and Observations Group, a covert special operations unit that ran secret missions in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia during the Vietnam War. John L. Plaster served with SOG and has spent decades documenting its history through books and photographs.

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