American Sniper (Movie Tie-in Edition): The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History

by Chris Kyle, Scott McEwen, Jim DeFelice

Overview

NOW A BLOCKBUSTER MOTION PICTURE DIRECTED BY CLINT EASTWOOD—NOMINATED FOR SIX ACADEMY AWARDS, INCLUDING BEST PICTURE

From 1999 to 2009, U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle recorded the most career sniper kills in United States military history. His fellow American warriors, whom he protected with deadly precision from rooftops and stealth positions during the Iraq War, called him "The Legend"; meanwhile, the enemy feared him so much they named him al-Shaitan ("the devil") and placed a bounty on his head. Kyle, who was tragically killed in 2013, writes honestly about the pain of war—including the deaths of two close SEAL teammates—and in moving first-person passages throughout, his wife, Taya, speaks openly about the strains of war on their family, as well as on Chris. Gripping and unforgettable, Kyle's masterful account of his extraordinary battlefield experiences ranks as one of the great war memoirs of all time.

Includes new material by Taya Kyle about the making of the American Sniper film

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062376336
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	11/25/2014
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	430,601
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

SEAL Team 3 Chief Chris Kyle (1974-2013) was awarded two Silver Stars, five Bronze Stars with Valor, and numerous other citations. Following four combat tours in Iraq, he became chief instructor for training Naval Special Warfare sniper teams. He is the author of American Gun: A History of the U.S. in Ten Firearms. A native Texan, Kyle is survived by his wife, Taya, and their two children.

Scott McEwen is a trial lawyer in San Diego.

Jim DeFelice is the co-author of Chris Kyle’s #1 New York Times bestseller American Sniper. He also is the author of Omar Bradley: General at War, the first in-depth critical biography of America’s last five-star general, and the co-author of the New York Times bestseller Code Name: Johnny Walker: The Extraordinary Story of the Iraqi Who Risked Everything to Fight with the U.S. Navy SEALs. He writes acclaimed military thrillers, including the Rogue Warrior series from Richard Marcinko, founder of SEAL Team 6, and the novels in the Dreamland series with Dale Brown. 

Read an Excerpt

Prologue

Evil in the Crosshairs

Late March 2003.

In the area of Nasiriya, Iraq I looked through the scope of the sniper rifle, scanning down the road of the tiny Iraqi town. Fifty yards away, a woman opened the door of a small house and stepped outside with her child. The rest of the street was deserted. The local Iraqis had gone inside, most of them scared. A few curious souls peeked out from behind curtains, waiting. They could hear the rumble of the approaching American unit. The Marines were flooding up the road, marching north to liberate the country from Saddam Hussein. It was my job to protect them. My platoon had taken over the building earlier in the day, sneaking into position to provide “overwatch”—prevent the enemy from ambushing the Marines as they came through. It didn’t seem like too difficult a task—if anything, I was glad the Marines were on my side. I’d seen the power of their weapons and I would’ve hated to have to fight them. The Iraq army didn’t stand a chance. And, in fact, they appeared to have abandoned the area already. The war had started roughly two weeks before. My platoon, “Charlie” (later “Cadillac”) of SEAL Team 3, helped kick it off during the early morning of March 20. We landed on al-Faw Peninsula and secured the oil terminal there so Saddam couldn’t set it ablaze as he had during the First Gulf War. Now we were tasked to assist the Marines as they marched north toward Baghdad.

I was a SEAL, a Navy commando trained in special operations. SEAL stands for “SEa, Air, Land,” and it pretty much describes the wide ranges of places we operate. In this case, we were far inland, much farther than SEALs traditionally operated, though as the war against terror continued, this would become common. I’d spent nearly three years training and learning how to become a warrior; I was ready for this fight, or at least as ready as anyone can be. The rifle I was holding was a .300 WinMag, a bolt-action, precision sniper weapon that belonged to my platoon chief. He’d been covering the street for a while and needed a break. He showed a great deal of confidence in me by choosing me to spot him and take the gun. I was still a new guy, a newbie or rookie in the Teams. By SEAL standards, I had yet to be fully tested. I was also not yet trained as a SEAL sniper. I wanted to be one in the worst way, but I had a long way to go. Giving me the rifle that morning was the chief’s way of testing me to see if I had the right stuff. We were on the roof of an old rundown building at the edge of a town the Marines were going to pass through. The wind kicked dirt and papers across the battered road below us. The place smelled like a sewer—the stench of Iraq was one thing I’d never get used to.

Editorial Reviews

Chris Kyle tells his story with the same courage and grit he displayed in life and on the battlefield. American Sniper is a compelling read.

CLINT EASTWOOD

Reads like a first-person thriller narrated by a sniper. The bare-bones facts are stunning. .... A first-rate military memoir.

BOOKLIST

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

No Source

In the community of elite warriors, one man has risen above our ranks and distinguished himself as unique. Chris Kyle is that man. A master sniper, Chris has done and seen things that will be talked about for generations to come.

MARCUS LUTTRELL

The raw and unforgettable narrative of the making of our country’s record-holding sniper, Chris Kyle’s memoir is a powerful book, both in terms of combat action and human drama. Chief Kyle is a true American warrior down to the bone, the Carlos Hathcock of a new generation.

CHARLES W. SASSER

American Sniper is the inside story of what it’s like to be in war. A brave warrior and patriot, Chris Kyle writes frankly about the missions, personal challenges, and hard choices that are part of daily life of an elite SEAL Sniper. It’s a classic!

RICHARD MARCINKO (USN

[My] favorite book of the year. Chris Kyle’s American Sniper is an amazingly detailed account of fighting in Iraq — a humanizing, brave story that’s extremely readable.

PATRICIA CORNWELL

Ls, Kyle racked up the most confirmed sniper kills in the history of the United States during a ten-year stint covering four deployments, also earning seven medals, including two Silver Stars. Here he tells not only his story but that of SEAL Team 3, also offering space for wife Taya to reveal the strains of a military marriage.

Library Journal

Memoir of America's most prolific sniper, with an emphasis on the grisly, unpredictable nature of contemporary warfare. With more than 250 confirmed kills in Iraq and several citations for bravery, including two Silver Stars, Kyle may well be the "most lethal" soldier in American military history. Fortunately, this memoir (written with co-authors Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice) takes a more unassuming and approachable tone in narrating his improbable journey from a modest Texas childhood to becoming a sniper with SEAL Team 3 and serving four deployments in Iraq: "my so-called ‘legend' [has] a lot to do with luck." As with other recent books about the SEALs, they are depicted as a breed apart: hyper-competitive, with the most intense training, hazing and bonding rituals (the latter involving much drinking and fighting). Kyle is unapologetic about his own conservative persona, and perhaps not the ideal spokesman for military public relations. The highlights of the narrative are the grim yet often funny accounts of Kyle's violent battles all over Iraq, most of which are described crisply. The author describes his participation in numerous urban battles, such as the protracted struggles for Ramadi and Fallujah, and asserts that elite operators like himself contributed to Iraq's evolving stability--"it took violence of action to create a situation where there could be peace." Kyle provides a few surprising moments, as when he writes eloquently about his fellow veterans, including SEALs killed or wounded in battle. "There's no reason someone who has fought for their country should be homeless or jobless," he writes. Kyle's wife offers her counterpoint narrative in italicized passages, driving home the surreal life of difficulty bestowed on professional warriors' loved ones. This aggressively written account of frontline combat, with plenty of action and technical nitty-gritty, should appeal to conservative readers and military buffs.

Kirkus Reviews