A Midnight Clear

Wharton goes back in this book to his adventures during the Second World War. Lured into the Army by a promise of receiving free university education ("we will need engineers to rebuild the world after the world") young Will Knot ends up in an intelligence military unit all the members of which have impressively high IQ (the decision of some military genius). The book concentrates on events which took place around Christmas... Read Full Review

A Midnight Clear is a stunning, poignant, passionate paean to the futility and tragedy of war. The setup is 6 very young, very bright US soldiers sent on a reconnaissance mission to a chateau deep within the Ardennes Forest in France in December 1944. Use of symbolism deepens the book's meaning: the men (read "boys") play chess and bridge (without cards) with deadly passion, one is called Mother because of his mother-hen neatnik... Read Full Review

A handful of young GI's are stuck in a snowy wilderness somewhere in northern France at the end of the Battle of the Bulge. Christmas time is approaching,and they are hoping and praying for salvation from this truly unpleasant situation. Perhaps holing up somewhere will keep them from from freezing to death, and hopefully the enemy is nowhere near. This strategy backfires when they realize that Germans have found them. Even... Read Full Review

A book is unlike any other, a mandatory read for those interested in a deep thought provoking novel about the second world war. Unlike a Hollywood novel, this one demands you think and assess the situation at every turn and never hesitates to remind you war no matter how much Hollywood likes to glorify it, it is hell. If you like the book the movie is almost as good.