Synopses & Reviews
The World War II classic by the bestselling author of
From Here to Eternity and
Whistle, now a major motion picture from 20th Century Fox.
They are the men of C-for-Charlie Company "Mad" 1st/Sgt. Eddie Welsh, S/Sgt. Don Doll, Pvt. John Bell, Capt. James Stein, Cpl. Fife, and dozens more just like them infantrymen in "this man's army" who are about to land grim and white-faced on an atoll in the Pacific called Guadalcanal. This is their story, a shatteringly realistic walk into hell and back.
In the days ahead some will earn medals; others will do anything they can dream up to get evacuated before they land in a muddy grave. But they will all discover the thin red line that divides the sane from the mad--and the living from the dead in this unforgettable portrait that captures for all time the total experience of men at war.
Review
"Brutal, direct, and powerful...the men are real, the words are real,
death is real, imminent and immediate." Los Angeles Times
Review
"The Thin Red Line moves so intensely and inexorably that it almost seems like the war it is describing." The New York Times Book Review
Review
"A major novel of combat in World War II...reminiscent of Stephen Crane in The Red Badge of Courage." The Christian Science Monitor
Review
"A rare and splendid accomplishment...strong and ambitious, spacious, and as honest as any novel ever written." Newsweek