Saturday, May 26, 2007

A 5 best list of books about soldiers in battle

In honor of Memorial Day, Senator John McCain picked a five best list of books about soldiers in battle for Opinion Journal.

One title is about the so-called "war to end all wars:"

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

In Erich Maria Remarque's extraordinary novel, based on his experience fighting for Germany in World War I, a young man and his classmates march off to the trenches full of bravado -- but in their first encounter with battle, they fall apart. All his vanity gone, the young man learns to hate the thing he thought would be an adventure. "All Quiet on the Western Front" is an indelible depiction of World War I, but it is also a timeless reminder that whether a conflict is necessary or not, whether it is ably commanded or mishandled, whether its outcome is just or unjust, war is a deadly enterprise. We should all shed a tear when war claims its wages.

Read about the book that topped McCain's list.

--Marshal Zeringue