By: James Webb Publisher: Bantam Average Rating: Binding: Mass Market Paperback Label: Bantam Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 496 Publication Date: August 28, 2001 Release Date: August 28, 2001
Product Description: They each had their reasons for being a soldier.
They each had their illusions. Goodrich came from Harvard. Snake got the tattoo — Death Before Dishonor — before he got the uniform. And Hodges was haunted by the ghosts of family heroes.
They were three young men from different worlds plunged into a white-hot, murderous realm of jungle warfare as it was fought by one Marine platoon in the An Hoa Basin, 1969. They had no way of knowing what awaited them. Nothing could have prepared them for the madness to come. And in the heat and horror of battle they took on new identities, took on each other, and were each reborn in fields of fire....
Fields of Fire is James Webb’s classic, searing novel of the Vietnam War, a novel of poetic power, razor-sharp observation, and agonizing human truths seen through the prism of nonstop combat. Weaving together a cast of vivid characters, Fields of Fire captures the journey of unformed men through a man-made hell — until each man finds his fate.
Phenomenal Read Jim Webb is at his finest describing his "fictional" account of Vietnam. This book grabs you and drags you in.
"Fields of Fire" James Webb (now US Senator Webb) has written one of the best works of fiction about the Vietnam War. He deftly characterizes the people and the place. The US Marines suffered horribly in Vietnam. This book captures the horror, heroism, and comaraderie of combat better than any book in recent memory.
Fantastic book! I read this book as a young Machine-gunner assigned to "C" Company 1st Bn 5th Marines while on deplyment to Okinawa, Japan in the spring of 1983! Since then I have re-read this book 3 times and pick up something new and/or see Webb in a different light each time. A great novel, both military and non-military alike will get a understanding of Vietnam from the author Webb who served there.
A pity I did not discover this book sooner... thirty years old (the book not me) I was deeply impressed. I am nearly sixty by now and NOT so easy to be astonished nowadays. Of course I have read it all before about other wars, in that field it is not particularly original, but it IS the book to read about the VIETNAM USA involvement (was it a WAR after all?... of course it was for the grunts... but part of the American society quite stupidly turned their backs on their soldiers... it would have been bad for professionals... BUT FOR DRAFTEES?... I was a teenager during the period been born in early 52, so reading this book with perspective (I couldn't have read it when it was published because my English wasn't here nor there - excepting some Beatle songs -) was a great experience, I have seen a lot of films about VIETNAM, but this book hits the mark dead center. Shades of Remarque, Hassel, that Russian chap and I will say it must have influenced Pressfield and Shaara a lot. Snake is a great character but not the only one, the whole bunch is a masterful creation (only P.C.Wren's descriptions of FFL soldiers are up to it) and the chapters so much to the point it is almost as you've remembering been there. Goodrich is a fantastic counterpoint.
But I am not for spoilers. I have read a lot of History books and Historical fiction and this one is in my personal top ten.
Highly Recommended.
ADB
PS: Not for everyone I must admit.
P. I received this book in great shape. I've yet to read it but I've heard so much about it, that it is next on my list!
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