Book Overview
With an Introduction by Philip D. Beidler This book was originally published in 1933. It is the first novel by William March, pen name for William Edward Campbell. Stemming directly from the author's experiences with the US Marines in France during World War I, the book consists of 113 sketches, or chapters, tracing the fictional Company K's war exploits and providing an emotional history of the men of the company that extends beyond the boundaries of the war itself. William Edward Campbell served courageously in France as evidenced by his chestful of medals and certificates, including the Croix de Guerre, the Distinguished Service Cross, and the Navy Cross. However, without the medals and citations we would know of his bravery. For it is clear in the pages of Company K that this book was written by a man who had been to war, who had clearly seen his share of the worst of it, who had somehow survived, and who had committed himself afterward to the new bravery of sense-making embodied in the creation of major literary art. It is of that bravery that we still have the record of magnificent achievement, the brave terrible gift of Company K.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0817304800
ISBN13:9780817304805
Release Date:October 1989
Publisher:University Alabama Press
Length:288 Pages
Weight:0.74 lbs.
Dimensions:0.8" x 5.3" x 7.8"
Customer Reviews
5 ratings
A Masterful Piece of Work on War--Real War and Its Effect on Those Who Fight It
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 14 years ago
Old Men Still Send Young Men to War. This is the story of those young men who fight those wars. Their stories, not of officers and gentlemen, but of the Dough Boys themselves. Written as fiction, Company K is, in reality, the true life stories of author William March and his fellow soldiers in Company K. Stories of courage, valor, of fear and cowardice,needless sacrifice and in one case outright murder as enemy soldiers are gunned down in a ravine rather than go through the trouble of getting them to the rear. This is not about a John-Wayne-war; it is about Sherman's war, the "War-Is-Hell" kind of war, told by men who actually fought it. It is about American soldiers, but it could be about any soldier under any flag representing any country. It is universal in nature, and could have been written about any and all wars. It is a masterful piece of work. You may never look at the glory and valor of war in the same way again...And that's a good thing!
Co. K
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 15 years ago
Outstanding narrative on observations and memories of the author's experiences before, during and after WWI that should be available for all history students and readers. Well worth the time reading these short vignettes that really bare his soul. Find it and read it!
An underrated classic
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 16 years ago
Excellent book! I started reading and was completely captivated, finishing the whole book in a single evening! The book consists of many short vignettes, each narrated by a soldier in company K, in which the soldier relates a particular experience. Some soldiers describe the same experience from different viewpoints. By this means the story is advanced from the beginning of the war to the end, and war itself is presented in all it's ugliness, cruelty, banality, and stupidity. American officers order the murder of prisoners, an exhausted enlisted man murders an officer just so he can rest (and gets away with it!), and mortally wounded soldiers lie screaming for hours in "no man's land" with their guts hanging out. As powerful as All Quiet on the Western Front!
An underrated classic
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 16 years ago
Excellent book! War presented as it really was by a gifted author who experienced it!I started reading and was completely captivated, finishing the whole book in a single evening! The book consists of many short vignettes, each narrated by a soldier in company K, in which the soldier relates a particular experience. Some soldiers describe the same experience from different viewpoints. By this means the story is advanced from the beginning of the war to the end, and war itself is presented in all it's ugliness, cruelty, banality, and stupidity. American officers order the murder of prisoners, an exhausted enlisted man murders an officer just so he can rest (and gets away with it!), and mortally wounded soldiers lie screaming for hours in "no man's land" with their guts hanging out. As powerful as All Quiet on the Western Front!
a classic veteran's tale from WW1
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 26 years ago
Slaughterhouse-five, and Catch-22 both borrowed from a powerful predecessor. Company-k is a simple read, short chapters each one a character of many narratives. Each one an insightful and heart-rending tale. It would be easy to ignore Company-K and most don't know it - except that it's written by a man who was there. Hemingway glorified war made it seem almost fun - March tells it as it was. Only Johnny Got His Gun, and All Quite On the Western Front come close to this passionate and shocking book.
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