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.
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“It is a fascinating study done in terms of the group that had suffered together. Each one emerges as sharply defined. It is a bitter indictment of a system. It has its moments of horror, depravity, violence. It has too its moments of perverted humor, of sensitivity, of poignancy. It might be defined as a French The Naked and the Dead written with finesse and sensitivity and taste that the Mailer book lacked, but revealing in many ways a similar pattern as the soldier attempts to fit back into civilian life.”
— Kirkus
“I first studied Lartéguy’s stunning reflection of modern war in 1974 at West Point. My notes served as a cautionary primer for the challenges I’d later see emerge time and again. The lands, languages, uniforms, and personalities were different—but the themes and emotions were constant.”
— —General Stanley McChrystal (U.S. Army, Retired)“[A] superbly written story . . . The rich variety of Lartéguy’s talents as a story-teller shines through the entire performance.”
— Boston GlobeBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Jean Larteguy (1920-2011) is the pen-name of Jean Pierre Lucien Osty, who served as a soldier in Korea and North Africa before becoming a distinguished journalist and novelist.
Paul Woodson has won SOVAS & Earphones awards, and has recorded close to 350 audiobooks in many different genres—including romance, fiction, history, biography, and mystery—in American and British accents—and received his BFA in acting at Boston University. In his theater days, he worked in many NYC shows, toured the USA and Europe, and starred in NYC as Vincent van Gogh in the sung-through, OOBR Award–winning musical Vincent. He enjoys backpacking the Appalachian Trail and visiting national parks in his spare time. He is a member of SAG-AFTRA.