The TEN THOUSAND [Mass Market Paperback]

Harold Coyle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1994

Harold Coyle has established himself as one of America's finest suspense novelists. With four consecutive New York Times best-selling novels of epic war, Team Yankee, Sword Point, Bright Star, and Trial by Fire, he is a master of the supercharged merging of global conflicts, strategy, politics, and probable world events. The Ten Thousand represents Harold Coyle at his visionary and apocalyptic best, and it's as intense, startling and thrilling as it is suspenseful. Hard on the heels of revolution and hope, Europe is suddenly in flames again. Germany is once more the dominant power, her leadership determined to win the world's respect, by bloody force if necessary. In Eastern Europe, where a weakened Russia is struggling against the ambitions of her neighbors, virulent nationalism and ancient ethnic hatreds fan the flames of war, this time with nuclear weapons as the ultimate threat. Caught up in the rising storm of a Europe in dangerous transition is an American army, no longer just keeping the peace, but drawn inexorably into a real shooting war. Harold Coyle's riveting - and all too possibly prophetic - new novel has the immediacy and the punch of today's fears and tomorrow's headlines. When the Ukraine refuses to hand its store of nuclear weapons to Russia, American troops are sent in to enforce compliance, while a right-wing nationalist German government seizes the opportunity to make a bid for world power.... Trapped by the rush of events, threatened by the specter-become-reality of a united Germany with atomic weapons, the American forces make a bold bid for survival by fighting their way to the safety of the Baltic Sea, crossing a hostile Germany like the Greeks in Xenophon'sclassic "The Ten Thousand." Coyle's grasp of geopolitical reality and his sure command of the battlefield - in the words of Stephen Coonts, "Nobody knows war like Harold Coyle, and nobody writes it better!" - is matched by the skill with which he creates and maneuvers a rich and fa

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This new novel by the author of Trial by Fire reads like an extraordinarily complicated, high-tech chess game. Sometime in the not too distant future, Ukraine refuses to relinquish its nuclear arsenal to Russia, and a state of anarchy sweeps over most of Eastern Europe. American troops, led by enormously likable General "Big Al" Malin, are sent to restore order; with Russian help, they snatch the nukes from the Ukrainian silos. But vengeful German Chancellor Johann Ruff, embittered since the waning days of WW II when allied bombs blew up his family, traps the American troops passing through his country with the Ukranian weapons and flexes some nuclear muscle of his own. In the cat-and-mouse game that follows, every strategic move by the Germans is either anticipated or countered by the Americans, who employ a clever plan devised by "Big Al" to make the Germans think he's an out-of-control warrior. Coyle describes complex weapons systems in minute detail--indeed, hardware and strategy are the real heroes of this novel; character development plays second fiddle to frequent tactical descriptions.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: Pocket; First edition (March 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671885650
• ISBN-13: 978-0671885656
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #884,956 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unlike any ground-war novel I've read so far..., March 14, 2005

By 

EagleStorm (Manila, Philippines) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The TEN THOUSAND (Mass Market Paperback)

I just finished reading The Ten Thousand yesterday afternoon, but boy I was caught by surprise as to how the plot unfolds, though I've first seen this book ten years ago and the plot still ingrained in my mind all this time.

It all begins in a cellar in Regensburg, Germany in late April 1945. When a young boy, a member of the Hitlerjugend, sees his family die before his eyes, he feels anger at not being given a chance to serve his Fatherland and his Fuhrer...fast forward to present day, the young boy is now the Chancellor of Germany, Johann Ruff.

The plot was unique in a sense: American troops enter the Ukraine together with Russian Army advisors to acquire a stockpile of Ukrainian nukes discovered stashed away. they eventually take the nukes with them, but not before the Ukrainians destroy one nuke stockpile and kill the American troops in the area.

Because they were not apparently consulted before the operation began, the Germans hijack the nukes as soon as they are prepared in an airbase in Germany for transport to the US. So begins the most dangerous European crisis since World War II...and now that General Malin and his X Corps are trapped in the Czech Republic with no home bases in Germany to return to, they must now make a choice: disarm right then and there, or travel across a hostile Germany for evacuation by sea, with former allies hot on their tails.

I liked Coyle's descriptions of how the action X Corps took gave resemblance to an earlier feat of arms: the march in 400BC of the Greek warrior Xenophon and his ten thousand mercenaries from what is present-day Iraq all the way back to Greece.

The reason I'm giving it four of five stars is because of some things i found odd: A Russian major in charge of US Rangers? Ooookay. Normally, US troops would feel uneasy when a foreign officer, a Russian at that, takes command of a US unit. But given the situation, the issues of nationality and racial bias take a backseat because all of them are soldiers, first and foremost.

This is the first ground war novel I've ever read that placed a major emphasis on ground battles, unlike the other combined-arms operations I've read in some books, most recently in Clancy's Bear and the Dragon or even in Larry Bond's Cauldron...and it shows, from the gritty realism of the tank battles and fifth-column ops that occur at several points in the story, to the personal perspectives of some of the major players themselves (Dixon, Kozak, Seydlitz, Ivanich, to name a few). Yes, some of the characters in the book do not reach the end of the story, but hey, that's war.

The book also gave focus on the professionalism of the German soldier and their ethical dilemmas on following the orders of their superiors or their consciences as well give rise to major dissent in the German Army. It also forced me to take notice because they come from a country that has never been to war in over fifty years, still struggling to come to grips with it's Nazi past and it's division during the Cold War, not to mention many generals from my country's armed forces also went to military schools in Germany that are some of the toughest in the world.

In all, The Ten Thousand is a well-written book.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent story of the human side of combat, May 22, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ten Thousand - Part I (Audio Cassette)

Harold Coyle, a master of military fiction, has created yet another vivid and all too possible scenario: A reunited Germany with a fanatically anti-American chancellor has seized control of nuclear weapons, and intends not only to threaten Germany's neighbors but to humiliate the American army in the process. Not only does Germany intend to keep the nukes, but he intends to disarm the American Forces in Germany and send them home in disgrace. So, the commanding general of the American army in Germany decides to march through Germany to the sea, taking on anyone who stands in their way. Several characters from Coyle's previous books are back, including the irrepressible captain Nancy Kozak and the unforgettable Scott Dixon, as well as Ed Lewis, the former National Guardsman now congressman, and General "Big Al" Malin (all five foot three inches of him). Moving skillfully from the battlefields of the inner chambers of power within the two opposing governments to the actual battlefields on the plains of Germany, the triumphs, tragedies, and horrors of sustained modern armored combat are described in vivid and sometimes graphic detail. This book does an excellent job of putting a human face to a tale of modern warfare.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another winner, December 2, 2000

By 

Jason Lee - See all my reviews

This review is from: The TEN THOUSAND (Mass Market Paperback)

The Ten Thousand returns author Harold Coyle to high-tech warfare since Bright Star. In it, the US with the cooperation of Russia confiscate nuclear weapons from a belligerent Ukraine. The weapons are then placed in Germany for safekeeping where a Chancellor sees the opportunity to steal them and threaten the world. Suddenly, Germany is not a good place for Americans to be in and they must fight their way and get the nukes back.

In this book, Coyle introduces even more women and in different aspects of the war. The infantry leader, medic, reporter/soldier's wife and the commander-in-chief. They are credited to giving a more humanizing effect on the male soldiers. It may not be realistic but it's definitely idealistic portrayal.

Most of the American characters are back. And for those who've read Coyle's previous books, it's a treat to see two Russian characters return. It's also interesting to see that a Russian finds himself in command of a group of American Rangers. The German characters could use some more depth however. None of them are very memorable unlike most non-American characters in previous books (except Bright Star). They're either against the war or are anti-American. I do wonder what Coyle thinks of the US military's future. In one chapter he mentions that the Airborne Division is being scrapped as part of the "new model Army". Yet, they are used in the book for a vital operation. A re-evaluation is sorely needed.

Overall, Harold Coyle has another winner.