What It Is Like To Go To War

From the author of MATTERHORN - 'America's great Vietnam novel' ( Sunday Times ), 'a novel of astonishing power and insight' ( Observer ) - comes a vivid, visceral examination of what happens to a young man when he is sent into battle, based on Karl's own experiences as a decorated Marine.

A searing account from within the guts of the war itself.

A novel of astonishing power and insight

There has never been a more realistic portrait or eloquent tribute to the nobility of men under fire, and never a more damning portrait of a war that ground them cruelly underfoot for no good reason.

Karl Marlantes has written a staggeringly beautiful book on combat - what it feels like, what the consequences are and above all, what society must do to understand it. In my eyes he has become the preeminent literary voice on war of our generation. He is a natural storyteller and a deeply profound thinker who not only illuminates war for civilians, but also offers a kind of spiritual guidance to veterans themselves. As this generation of warriors comes home, they will be enormously helped by what Marlantes has written - I'm sure he will literally save lives.

What It Is Like to Go to War is a well-crafted and forcefully argued work that contains fresh and important insights into what it's like to be in a war and what it does to the human psyche.

brutally honest, clear-eyed and necessary.

You may not ever read a better book about war than this... There are some very gruesome things here, and some of the best philosophical thinking I've ever read in a memoir.

the brave and illuminating work of a courageous and humane man.

Marlantes examines with lacerating frankness his experiences at the forefront of battle, in Vietnam more than 40 years ago.

A graduate of Yale University and a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, Karl Marlantes served as a Marine in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Navy Cross, the Bronze Star, two Navy Commendation Medals for valor, two Purple Hearts, and ten air medals. Matterhorn , his novel about the Vietnam War, took over three decades to complete and was an international bestseller. He and his wife Anne live on a small lake in western Washington state.