The Marine: A Novel of War from Guadalcanal to Korea [Paperback]

James Brady (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2004

A rousing new Marine Corps adventure from the author of the New York Times bestselling Warning of War and The Marines of Autumn

The Marine is Colonel James ("Oliver") Cromwell, a warrior forged at Notre Dame and the Berlin of Hitler's Olympics, and honed by combat at Guadalcanal as one of Carlson's Marine Raiders. With the world at peace, the thirty-five-year old Cromwell is restlessly, if pleasantly, beached on garrison duty in California, aware of how much he misses the war, when he is ordered to fresh duty beyond the seas, as military attaché to the American ambassador in a dull Asian backwater half a world away. There, at dawn on a June Sunday, Ollie gets his wish for action. Korea violently erupts and Colonel Cromwell is caught up in the early, panicked, rout. While South Koreans cut and run, the first GIs hurried into battle are brushed aside by advancing Red tanks and tough peasant infantry.

The Marine chronicles the war-hardened Cromwell's experience of the dramatic First Hundred Days of a brutal three-year Korean War, the chaos and cowardice of retreat, the last-ditch gallantry of the Pusan Perimeter, MacArthur’s brilliant left hook sending Marines against the deadly seawall at Inchon, and the bloody assault to liberate Seoul and promote MacArthur's 1952 presidential ambitions. Ollie Cromwell’s is the story of a "forgotten war" that never truly ended, but for a bitter truce along what a recent U.S. president called "the most dangerous border in the world."

In The Marine, James Brady crafts a powerful novel of one man’s service to his country and Corps.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Straight-ahead prose tempered with wry humor distinguishes this latest war chronicle by Brady (The Marines of Autumn, etc.). Tracking Col. James "Oliver" Cromwell from college to retirement, the novel sometimes reads more like memoir than fiction, but marches smartly up to its dramatic high points. At Notre Dame, Cromwell learns to box well enough to go to the Berlin Olympics in 1936. In World War II, he joins Evans Carlson's famous Raiders and participates in the bold Makin Island Raid, vividly depicted as a near disaster. By 1950 he is a decorated lieutenant colonel, assigned as aide to Ambassador John Muccio in Seoul, South Korea, only days before the North Koreans storm south. Here the novel kicks into high gear, portraying one of the roughest patches in U.S. military history. Through the first summer of hostilities-"the gritty stand at Pusan, the tides at Inchon, the arrogance of demanding Seoul by a date definite"-Cromwell sticks by Muccio as his boss attempts to keep track of a South Korean government that is running away as fast as it can. MacArthur is shown as both a genius and a madman, backed by an army that must relearn the art of war. Through it all, Cromwell's steps are dogged by a former college classmate, Ben Sweet, a conceited war correspondent and novelist who becomes a kind of nagging alter ego. Brady weakens the novel's climax by letting Cromwell take a serious wound offstage, but this soldier's tale of key conflicts in two mid-century wars is a solid achievement.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

It has been 50 years since the end of the Korean War, and Brady sets his latest novel during the first 100 days of the conflict--beginning on June 25, 1950, when the North Koreans launched their surprise attack on South Korea. Our hero is marine colonel James Cromwell, a military attache to the U.S. ambassador in Seoul. Cromwell, we are informed, had served at Guadalcanal during World War II. Cromwell joins General Douglas McArthur in the invasion at Inchon and in his fiercely fought drive to reach the capital city of Seoul. Brady paints Cromwell as a true patriot who--when not fighting--reads Caesar's Gallic War in Latin. Author of Warning of War (2002), The Marines of Autumn (2000), and 12 other novels, Brady served in the Korean War. Here he mixes fact and fiction to offer readers a gripping adventure story. George Cohen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (May 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312331053
• ISBN-13: 978-0312331054
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,438,343 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

The late JAMES BRADY commanded a Marine rifle platoon during the Korean War and was awarded a Bronze Star for valor. For more than two decades, he wrote the "In Step With" column for Parade. He also wrote a column for Forbes.com. He authored eighteen books, among them several on the Marines, including the nonfiction Why Marines Fight and the New York Times bestselling novel The Marines of Autumn.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pour a tall beer and get a bowl of kim chee because . . ., June 9, 2003

By 

Bert Krages (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Marine: A Novel of War From Guadalcanal to Korea (Hardcover)

James Brady is taking you back to Korea. This novel is written in a somewhat different style than "Warning of War" and "The Marines of Autumn." It somewhat more folksy with shorter chapters but reads well. It tells the story of a Marine from his formative days as a boxer at Notre Dame to serving in several roles as a lieutenant colonel during the first part of the Korean Conflict. Brady's novels about the Corps always feature some unusual historical elements and this one has more than the others. The main character faces different kinds of issues than the those in the other Brady novels. For example, while his career progresses nicely, ironically it is haunted by serving a span as a young officer in Carlson's Raiders (an elite unit viewed with suspicion by many cadre). The book gives a good feel for the various conflicts it describes and for the career of the bachelor Marine officer.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Marine, August 23, 2004

By 

Hollis O. Blakesley (Huntington Beach, Ca. United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Marine: A Novel of War From Guadalcanal to Korea (Hardcover)

James Brady's novel is a good read. It follows the World War 2 to Korean War fictional career path of a U.S. Marine Colonel named James "Oliver" Cromwell. A military boxing champion, he serves with a marine raider battalion, and later serves as an ambassadors aide; many traditional marine officers view his career with envy and suspicion. Therefore, Colonel Cromwell never realizes a personal goal to command a battalion in combat. The author does not pull his punches in describing the 1942 flawed Makin Island raid by Carlson's Raiders. Brady also ignores political correctness by pointing out the dismal combat record of the Army's 24th Infantry Regiment during the Korean War, "an all black unit with mostly white officers and lousy morale." Brady does error in citing the 4 th Marines "as men who would die" during the infamous World War 2 Bataan Death March. The 4 th Marines were defending Corregidor Island at the time of the Death March. Brady also errors citing Marine paratroopers making a combat jump and "floating down" over Guadalcanal. These marines fought with great valor on Guadalcanal, but "floated in " and hit the beach by boat.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A terrific read., January 7, 2004

By 

Rob Manatt (Ames, IA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Marine: A Novel of War From Guadalcanal to Korea (Hardcover)

Brady's latest work, The Marine, is a spectacular novel. I fully enjoyed reading it the entire time. It begins as the main charachter, Lt. Col. James T. Cromwell, is heading for college at Notre Dame, and follows him through his days as a boxer, and then as a raider and as a regular marine. His charachter inspired me and fueled my interest in the Marines with his life like bravery and fearlessness. While the main charachter is quite unorthodox, Cromwell is exactly what the marines want in their men. This is a must read for any war novel buff.