Customer Reviews

Brotherhood of War: The Lieutenants, the Captains, the Major

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Brotherhood of War  The Lieutenants/The Captains/The Majors is a combination of the first three books of W.E.B. Griffins magnificent series.

Unlike any other military book that Im familiar with, Griffin writes about life in the military rather than focusing on combat as most military writers do. In this book, he will take you from the start of World War II through its end and into the years of developing tension with the Soviet Union and finally into Korea.

You will see what life in the Army is like through the eyes of two very different individuals; Craig Lowell , an obscenely rich, rebellious young man with astounding talents for both heroism and indiscretion and Sanford Felter, a small, slight, diminutive Jew with a brilliant mind and an uncompromising attitude. You will learn how both become Lieutenants in the U.S. Army through the most unlikely of circumstances and how both progress through the Army. You will meet their many friends, their superiors and their loves as Griffin makes each character come so alive, you imagine yourself standing beside them.

If your desire is tactical combat with bullets flying and bombs exploding, there will be very little of such situations in these books, which is a shame, considering how vivid and realistic Griffin presents them. However, for anyone whos ever wondered what the military life is like, I can give no higher recommendation.

Open these only when you are fully rested, because you will not get much sleep until you complete the entire series.

This was a purchase for my brother-in-law. I read each of these books as they came out and couldn't hardly wait for the next one. I wish that he could write them as fast as I can read them, but I know that is not possible. Every book written by Mr. Griffin is a five star book. The Army, Marine, Police, Spook, Presidential and other series are top of the line - can't put them down - books.

Outstanding series, as are all of WEB Griffin's books. He always seems to have some bright, usually rich, EM or officer who "beats the military system."

Very enjoyable with historic realism.

I've been a fan of Griffin since about 1988, when I stumbled across his Brotherhood of War series in a used book store in Enterprise, Alabama. Back in the mid-60s, I was stationed at nearby Fort Rucker and married a local girl. Hence the visit.

Griffin gets the flavor of the military correct and his grasp of internal politics is very good. That said, there is a formulaic feel to the books. I have the entire BoW and Corps series, along with a few others, but I haven't been drawn into any of the later books. I figure they're pretty similar to the others.

My biggest problem with Griffin's books is the editing. It's lousy! The use of wrong words in some instances is a function of reliance on spell-check, I think. But some of the errors are really strange. Griffin often has pilots getting landing clearance on runways that can't exist. Runways are numbered from 01 to 36 depending on their magnetic orientation. A runway pointing 030 degrees is runway 03 -- it's as simple as that. In one book, a pilot lands on runway 83. Sheesh. This is stuff Griffin himself ought to know.

Air traffic control phraseology is another problem. As a former controller, Army and FAA, I am sensitive to that. I won't get into it any further.

I still like the books and I like Griffin's writing style. Like some other fans, I wish he'd left out some of the rehash that appears in most of his books and added a little blood and thunder.

Jim

I am a retired First Sergeant from Special operations and found that many of the events and places in Mr Griffins series are real places and quite accurate in their decription. The Characters were true characters who I could have met at any time in my 20 years of Special ops. My only Criticism is I felt the women were painted as much too crude and always only after sex (of course that attracts your less intelligent reader) and enlisted people are not the dopes Mr. Griffin always seemed to make them out to be. In the Military everyone has a job and their intelligence is relative to their job mostly. We are not goons who don't know how to structure a sentence and speak intelligibly.

Out standing author on the military, I have been reading his books for years and have almost all of his titles, both his books under W.E.B. Griffin and under other names. He also wrote the books series M*A*S*H which the TY show was based on. The series which this piece is written about I only had in paperback, was glad to see the first three books put together, and hope the publisher does the same with the rest of the series. His series on the Marine Corps is also great. My Dad served under MAcArthur and in New Guinea according to him hit the nail on the head about "Mac".

These are fantastic fictional books, especially about the way things were in the "Old Army". I've bought each book in the series at least twice and love reading them.

Be aware that there is much, often strained, coincidence in the books. The author has the worst editor ever seen in mainstream publishing and nothing in them applies to anything happening in the modern world, even as historical reference.

Sadly, I made a critical career decision based on these books (because I had little other information at the time) and have regretted it ever since. DO NOT ACCEPT ANYTHING IN THESE BOOKS WITHOUT DOING MORE RESERACH.

That said I am recollecting the entire series.

Typical WEB Griffin Book - A great read. I have been going back and ordering the entire series so I can read them in the order that they were published as the "story lines" will make more sense... but it is not necessary however.

Enjoy, I did...

i ordered this book to replace the 3 worn out paperbacks...It still is a great read

I have been reading WEB for the last 30 years. His books are very enjoyable..I have read all of his books (except the police series) many times. The editing/proof reading is a little shaky...lots of "facts" change from book to book...but it is a minor annoyance. I will buy this just to convert some of my paperbacks to hard back. Hopefully we will have the opportunity to do this with all of his books that were previously only available in paperback.

While I am here...

You may or may not know that WEB wrote much of the M*A*S*H* Goes to ..... books that were sequels to Richard Hooker's first book. The film M*A*S*H* is pretty true to the book..the series is not faithful at all. I'd love to see these books reissued, perhaps in an omnibus hardback. (it would be very cool if either WEB or his son revisted the series and perhaps added to it)