RATTENKRIEG!

Subtitled “The Art and Science of Close Quarters Battle Pistol,” “Rattenkrieg” draws its main title from a word the Germans coined for the vicious “rat war” of the Stalingrad campaign. The author, Bob Taubert, is better known by his pen name of “Bob Pilgrim” because he began writing when he worked for the FBI. Anyone who has worked for a large organization – dot-mil, dot-gov, or commercial – understands how that goes.  Today, well into an honorably earned retirement, he is out of that particular closet.  

I’ve met Bob, and shot with him, and I can tell you he’s awfully good.  In a long, “been there/done that” career, he has absorbed a great deal of advanced training from authoritative sources, and he distills it well in “Rattenkrieg.”

This book is an excellent compendium of current pistolcraft doctrine from many sources. Bob takes a very analytical approach, explaining where each technique comes from, and dispassionately listing its strong points and weak points.  The book is an excellent overview for new shooters, and a very useful review for the master shooter.  Few books can encompass both ends of the bell curve as well as this one.

What I particularly like about Taubert’s approach is something a lot of writers can learn from, whether or not they have any interest in firearms.  That approach is to explain the technique clearly, along with how and why it was developed, and to present it non-judgmentally. Clearly, Bob Taubert has his own preferences…but instead of touting those and dissing the others, he explains them all without prejudice and lets the reader decide.

It’s a writing approach that serves the reader well, whether the book is about fighting with guns or how to raise prize-winning roses.

Recommended reading. Source is Saber Press, which offers other titles by qualified authors which many who read this blog will find of great interest.

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