Semper FI (Corps) [Hardcover]

W.E.B. Griffin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1992 | Series: Corps

From Shanghai to WAke Island, the Corps was America's first line of defense as the winds of war exploded into the devastating surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Now, the bestselling author of the acclaimed BROTHERHOOD OF WAR saga brings to life the men of the Marine Corps--their loves and their loyalties--as they steeled themselves for battle, and prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice...

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

W. E. B. Griffin is the author of six bestselling series: The Corps, Brotherhood of War, Badge of Honor, Men at War, Honor Bound, and Presidential Agent. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Severn House Publishers Ltd (December 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0727843524
• ISBN-13: 978-0727843524
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,196,812 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

W.E.B. Griffin is the author of more than thirty epic novels in five series, all of which have been listed on The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly and other best-seller lists. More than forty million of his books are in print in more than ten languages, including Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese, and Hungarian. Mr. Griffin grew up in the suburbs of New York City and Philadelphia. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1946. After basic training, he received counter-intelligence training at Fort Holabird, Maryland. He was assigned to the Army of Occupation in Germany, and ultimately to the staff of then-Major General I.D. White, commander of the U.S. Constabulary. In 1951, Mr. Griffin was recalled to active duty for the Korean War, interrupting his education at Phillips University, Marburg an der Lahn, Germany. In Korea he earned the Combat Infantry Badge as a combat correspondent and later served as acting X Corps (Group) information officer under Lieutenant General White. On his release from active duty in 1953, Mr. Griffin was appointed Chief of the Publications Division of the U.S. Army Signal Aviation Test & Support Activity at Fort Rucker, Alabama. Mr. Griffin is a member of the Special Operations Association, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, the Army Aviation Association, and the Armor Association. He was the 1991 recipient of the Brigadier General Robert L. Dening Memorial Distinguished Service Award of the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association, and the August 1999 recipient of the Veterans of Foreign Wars News Media Award, presented at the 100th National Convention in Kansas City. He has been vested into the Order of St. George of the U.S. Armor Association, and the Order of St. Andrew of the U.S. Army Aviation Association, and been awarded Honorary Doctoral degrees by Norwich University, the nation's first and oldest private military college, and by Troy State University (Ala.). He was the graduation dinner speaker for the class of 1988 at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He has been awarded honorary membership in the Special Forces Association; the Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association; the Marine Raiders Association; and the U.S. Army Otter & Caribou Association. He is the co-founder, with historian Colonel Carlo D'Este, of the William E. Colby Seminar on Intelligence, Military, and Diplomatic Affairs. Mr. Griffin's novels, known for their historical accuracy, have been praised by The Philadelphia Inquirer for their "fierce, stop-for-nothing scenes." "Nothing honors me more than a serviceman, veteran, or cop telling me he enjoys reading my books," Mr. Griffin says. Mr. Griffin divides his time between the Gulf Coast and Buenos Aires.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Novel and Great Series, August 22, 2004

By 

R. Sander (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Semper Fi (The Corps, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

First off, this book is a novel and the genre is drama, not war. It is not about war but about the culture and relationships, history and traditions of men who fight wars. The story of course is set against a war, but it could be any modern war in any theatre. What you are getting is a perspective on what goes on in mens minds when they make decisions about their fates or how to get a box of bullets onto an island in the middle of no where.

The reader meets the various characters as they meet one another and sees and thinks what they do from their various perspectives. They tell their own stories, ambitions and worries so you know whats going on in their minds. At times, the reader gets to walk in the shoes of the young private thrust into new situations, then the reader is in the head of a more experienced soldier who meets private. Everything in the military tradition informs an officer that his word is gold and a private's is meaningless and then the private exhibits characteristics that makes the officer contemplate his original presumption. If he acts on the private's words, whill his own judgement be questioned? If he's wrong, will his career or life be over? Those thoughts go through people's minds at every level of decision making. There are the career elisted men, the younger and older officers, the career trouble makers and cilivians who have put on uniforms, there are men whose sons are fighting beside them or wives who worry about them both. There are men who advance quickly and men who the war exposes as being out of their league. They all have historical reasons to mistrust one another but they must work together because there is simply no one else.

Generally, the men must form quick impressions of their comrades. Then the impressions change or deepen. Men of oddly different backgrounds form deep friendships or intense animosities. Men find one another personally challenging, useful, an obstacle or whatever. The reason this is all important is because their lives and the future of the country hangs on every decision they make and this is what makes for such interesting and compelling reading.

There are countless tomes about battles and campaigns but very little exploration, especailly at the lower ranks, of why one man puts his life in another mans trust and almost no writing the explores all the back channels and double dealing that goes on in the military culture.

While this novel is unlikely to fill in your knowledge of any particular battle, it may inform your understanding of every other historical book you read by letting you get into the heads of men at every level of the fighting.

This series is fairly condensed compaired to the Brotherhood of Arms series. It covers from around 1940 to 45 with some extra books taking the characters into the Korean War. The BoAs series introduces you to another great cast of characters but the time range takes you from 1942/3 til 1970 and visits them more often than not when the country is not at war. Also, check out the Honor Series, which takes you to South America during the war. Awesome stuff.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't start this one unless you have all 7 books, April 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Semper Fi (The Corps, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

A powerhouse of action, suspense, friendship, and even love. You can almost smell what Griffin is writting. Also read the Men at War series while you are waiting for book 8 or 9 or whatever he is on now. Believe me 8 or 9 or 10 or 50 books of this calibur are not enough. By the time you are through you will feel like you personally know Pick, Ken, Erine Page,Zimmerman, Banning, and all of the others. So buy them all not just Semper Fi we need to keep W.E.B. Griffin in pencils and paper.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Addictive Series, June 5, 2003

By 

"covingtonj" (Plano, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Semper Fi (The Corps, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

After reading this, the first book in "The Corps" series, I the purchased the rest three at a time. Since finishing the series, I have now read every book Griffin has published.

Griffin's character development is so thorough that you feel you have gotten to know a real people as the various series develop.

The Corp Series offers a great "behind the scenes" look at WWII in the Pacific Theatre, what it meant to the men that served and stirs the patriotic juices inside of you.

One of many fantastic books from a terrific author.