The Green Berets. [Hardcover]

Robin Moore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1965

In 1965, writer Robin Moore wanted to understand more about the little-known activities of the U.S. Army Special Forces, known amongst themselves as the Green Berets. With presidential approval by John F. Kennedy himself, Moore went to a place called Vietnam--and was never the same again.

This monumental, bestselling work--the inspiration for the classic movie starring John Wayne and one of the first wake-up called given to the American public about Vietnam--plunges us into the chaos that was our nation's first experience with unconventional warfare.

From fighting the Viet Cong to fighting alongside Montagnard tribesmen, The Green Berets captures the terror of fire fights and iambuses, the constant confusion between friend and foe and the amazing can-do spirit of U.S. Special Forces "advisors" who changed the shape of war even as it changed them. Filled with unforgettable characters- woman spy, a daredevil pilot, and heroic soldiers on both sides of the battle--and updated to include a chapter comparing today's special forces to those from the Vietnam era, The Green Berets is an action-packed, unforgettable chronicle of a secret war and the extraordinary men who fought it.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Robert Lowell Moore Jr., AKA Robin Moore, who was born on Halloween Night (October 31) 1925 in Boston, Massachusetts, always wanted to be a writer. True to his Halloween birthdate, Robin's choice of topics have frequently leaned toward the supernatural and macabre.

Robin was raised in Concord, Massachusetts and attended Middlesex School and Belmont Hill School. After graduating from Belmont Hill, he joined the armed forces and flew a tour of combat missions over Germany during the closing days of World War II. He graduated from Harvard College in 1949 and went to New York to produce television shows. In 1952 he returned to Boston to work for the Sheraton Hotel Company co-founded by his father, Robert Lowell Moore senior. But, what Robin really wanted to do was write.

His first novel, Pitchman was about the burgeoning TV business. He continued to work for Sheraton and as a result of trying to establish Sheraton hotels in the Caribbean in the late 50s he ran across Fidel Castro which led to his chronicling the Cuban communist dictator's guerrilla campaign in a non-fiction book The Devil To Pay. A third novel about Robin's family business, Hotel Tomayne, brought about the end of his career in hotel management and was the start of his full-time writing career.

In 1963 his Harvard classmate, Robert Kennedy, President John F. Kennedy's brother, made it possible for Robin to join the US Army Special Forces as a civilian. Robin went through almost a year of training and then went to Vietnam with the Special Forces and wrote his definitive novel of the Vietnam War, The Green Berets which was published in May of 1965.

The French Connection followed this first success when Robin joined the New York police department in one of their most spectacular drug busts. Robin continued to write and his next big hit was The Happy Hooker with Xaviera Hollander, the story of the most controversial madam in New York City.

Robin then went on to write many more novels about international intrigue and adventure. He often traveled internationally to gather background material for his books.

Robin returned to Southeast Asia to write The Country Team about American diplomacy and Green Beret operations in Asia. The Khaki Mafia was next, chronicling the adventures of a beautiful, blond Australian girl's adventures as an entertainer and talent booker to US Army posts throughout Vietnam.

A stint as a treasure hunter in the Caribbean led to The Treasure Hunter. In the 70s Robin spent a year in Iran and the middle east researching his next novel, Dubai, an epic of gold smuggling, oil exploration, and political subversion in the Arab world. Two novels of gambling followed. The first was the story of a great con game, The Big Paddle and the other was the heartbreaking tale of a compulsive gambler, Compulsion. Robin returned to his hotel background in The Fifth Estate.

One of his more recent novels, The White Tribe, was the result of three years spent in Africa observing American and European mercenaries fighting communist terrorism. After Africa Robin traveled to Russia where he did extensive research leading to The Moscow Connection, the story of the sale of Russian nuclear weapons to rouge nations. His latest book, The Sparrowhook Curse, a paranormal tale of love and family revenge, was the result of many years summering at his parents island home on Cuttyhunk Island.

Robin continues to write and is currently working with Raymond Flynn, former US Ambassador to the Vatican and former Mayor of Boston, on a novel about Vatican intrigue, The Accidental Pope. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 341 pages
• Publisher: Crown Pub (October 1965)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517507145
• ISBN-13: 978-0517507148
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,780,017 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Accurate and Inspiring - and a Post Script on Larry Thorne, March 4, 2008

By 

John Marke (Pacific, Mo United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Green Berets (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a great book. Very accurate, painfully so in many instances, especially considering the absurd restrictions placed on units operating in the field. Ironically, Moore's account of Special Forces operations in Vietnam is much more accurate than anything you'll ever get from the US government...even 40 years later.

Post Script: In the first Chapter, Moore writes about Capt. Steve Kornie, a larger than life Special Forces officer. Darn near everything Moore wrote was accurate! The officer's real name is Larry Allan Thorne (the "Americanized" version of his Finnish name - Lauri Allan Torni). He was a truly remarkable man by any measure.

Major Thorne was lost on a cross-border mission into Laos on 18 October 1965; but, at that time, and "for the record" he was classified as Missing In Action resulting from a helicopter crash 25 miles south of Da Nang (not even close).

A joint US-Vietnamese team found the wreckage in 1997, excavated the site in 1999, and collected the remains of Maj. Thorne and 3 Vietnamese (two pilots and a door gunner). A decision was made to do a joint internment at Arlington, since what little remained of the bodies was intermingled. Although positive identification, however, was made through Thorne's dental records and parts of the Swedish-K submachine gun that was his personal weapon.

The memorial stone is atypically large for Arlington; and the local Vietnamese community ensures that fresh flowers are maintained at the grave. I have provided additional information should you be in the neighborhood and would like to visit the site. Unless you have very specific information on dates of internment and the correct spelling of the name, you will not be successful in locating the site through the cemetery administration.

[...]

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Been there - Done that!, April 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Green Berets (Mass Market Paperback)

I read this book while I was at US Army Basic Training, Ft Ord, June 1965. One of my buddies who had enlisted for Special Forces had the book. Little did I know I would be at some of the places in the book, doing the same things. I arrived "In Country" during May 1968 as a member of the 5th Special Forces Group. I learned first hand that Robin knew what he was talking about, and that he had a wonderful way of telling it. Enjoy the book. It is as real as it can get.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why do I always disagree!?, April 27, 2004

By 

Chad R. Reihm (Miami Beach, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Green Berets (Mass Market Paperback)

I was blown away that some people did not like this book! I absolutely loved it! Before you begin reading it you must put it in the context of the time it was written. This is a book written before any of our main troops were sent to 'nam and therefore the things we know now are simply hindsite and can not be applied to this book. This book, while called fiction, is the closest you will ever get to truly understanding our most well known and almost mystical special forces group. It details, with fake names due to govt regulations at the time, many Beret missions that were, until lately, highly classified. This book will take you on many missions that seem like they are straight off of a hollywood script...in fact these stories are what created most of those scripts. You will join the berets in battle, deep behind enemy lines and see how they fought before the days when rescue was an artillery shot away. You will love each chapter of this book and it will be a very quick read. Please do yourself the favor, if you have any interest in this subject, of picking up this important book and learning a bit about America's Green Berets!