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Loading... The Centurions (original 1960; edition 1962)by Jean Lartéguy
Work InformationThe Centurions by Jean Lartéguy (1960)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. This book was read by me in in a month when, apparently, i was smothered in literary gore. However Larteguy's story following a French Paratroop company, as it fights at Dien Ben Phu, is captured, and endures captivity in Vietnam is quite gripping. After this baptism into the fading world of colonialism, we further march off to quell unrest in Algeria, and finally face the difficult adventure at Suez in 1956. The book, compared to the tales of the Pacific WWII I had been reading, was an interesting reset. ( ) Excellent anti-war novel that continues to be read and studied by professional warfighters. There isn't much combat, it's not really a war novel but a novel about war; at least a third takes place in France on home-leave. It's about the various aspects a soldier deals with in the modern era post-WWII. The hazy loyalties, contradictions. In hindsight all the lessons of Vietnam are here, not to mention Iraq and Afghanistan. It's very French and some of the character-types are hard to grasp 60-years on but the essence is there, some things are universal. no reviews | add a review
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When The Centurions was first published in 1960, readers were riveted by the thrilling account of soldiers fighting for survival in hostile environments. They were equally transfixed by the chilling moral question the novel posed: how to fight when the "age of heroics is over." As relevant today as it was half a century ago, The Centurions is a gripping military adventure, an extended symposium on waging war in a new global order, and an essential investigation of the ethics of counterinsurgency. Featuring a foreword by renowned military expert Robert D. Kaplan, this important wartime novel will again spark debate about controversial tactics in hot spots around the world. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)843.914Literature French & related literatures French fiction 1900- 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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