Warning of War: A Novel of the North China Marines [Paperback]

James Brady (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2003

The New York Times Bestselling Author of The Marines of Autumn

Late November of 1941.

Half the world is at war and with the other half about to join in, a thousand U.S. Marines stand sentinel over the last days of an uneasy truce between ourselves and the Imperial Japanese Army in chaotic North China.

By November 27, FDR is convinced Japan is about to launch a military action. Washington doesn’t know where, isn’t sure precisely when. But the Cabinet is sufficiently alarmed that War Secretary Henry Stimson and Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox are authorized to send an immediate and coded “warning of war” to American bases and units in harm’s way.

In Shanghai two cruise ships are chartered and 800 armed American Marines are marched through the great port city with enormous pomp and circumstance and embarked for Manila.

Another 200 Marines, unable to reach Shanghai, and serving in small garrisons and posts from Peking to Mongolia and the Gobi Desert, are caught short by this “warning of war”.

This is their story. Of how a detachment of American Marines marooned in North China as war erupts, set out on an epic march through hostile territory in an attempt to fight their way out of China and, somehow, rejoin their Corps for the war against Japan.

James Brady dazzles us once again with a stunning and unflinching look at America at war. Warning of War is a moving tribute to sheer courage, determination, and Marine Corps discipline, and is a wonderful celebration of America in one of its darkest but finest hours.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A Marine veteran of the Korean conflict, Brady (The Marines of Autumn) has stormed publishing high ground to become, arguably, our foremost novelist currently writing on the subject of Marines at war. Here, the distinguished columnist and author brings under close scrutiny the sorry disarray of the U.S. military during the two months (beginning November 27, 1941, and ending Jan. 27, 1942) just before and after the infamous attack on Pearl Harbor. Playing tennis by day with his friend, an American-born Japanese colonel, and by night enjoying posh clubs with his White Russian mistress, Marine Capt. Billy Port, a Back Bay Bostonian, sees his pampered life among the cosmopolitan set in exotic, Japanese-occupied Shanghai come to an abrupt halt on November 27, 1941, when FDR orders the complete evacuation of all Marines stationed in China under an official "warning of war." A decorated veteran of the 1920s Nicaraguan campaign, Port is given the task of taking a rifle squad of combat-seasoned Marines and rounding up a scattering of isolated detachments and leading them over the Great Wall and across the Gobi into icy Siberia. Taking his personal majordomo, a naval lieutenant, a French former Grand Prix race driver, and an exiled White Russian general, he loads four military trucks and his own Bentley touring car aboard a rusty Portuguese ship and sails north to rescue the isolated Marines, unaware that his Japanese tennis partner will become his relentless pursuer. Authentic atmospherics and crackling action are sure to keep fans turning the pages of this newest Brady combat thriller, which succeeds equally as entertainment, history and morality lesson. (Apr. 10)Forecast: The Marines of August was a New York Times bestseller, and Brady's latest looks likely to follow in its footsteps.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In November 1941, U.S. marines were stationed in North China and fighting the Japanese well before the attack on Pearl Harbor. This novel tells the story of the days just before and shortly after the "official" fighting began. Capt. William Port, 4th Marines, is stationed in Shanghai, a city wracked by poverty, corruption, and intrigue, as the Japanese army looms on the horizon. Wealthy and educated, he is comfortable with his White Russian girlfriend, Natasha. While some members of his regiment are ordered to the Philippines and to the subsequent horrors of Bataan and Corregidor, Port is left behind with a small group of marines whose task is to rescue American missionaries trapped in the far reaches of the Gobi Desert. Port's trek through the desert constitutes the heart of this story of adventure, conflict, heroism, and tragedy. A former marine and magazine publisher, Brady (Marines of Autumn, The Coldest War) offers a fascinating tale of a virtually forgotten time and place. For all general collections. Robert Conroy, Warren, MI
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (May 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312303327
• ISBN-13: 978-0312303327
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,014,800 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

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Fact, Fiction or Fantasy?", March 27, 2002

By 

John F. Baltes (Stoughton, Wisconsin) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Warning of War: A Novel (Hardcover)

"Warning of War" which takes place pre-World War II, tells the story of a mission to round up all the Marines manning outposts in China. But is it "Fact, Fiction or Fantasy?" Brady does not answer this question leaving it for the reader to decide.
FACT: Marines of the 4th Marines and the Legation Guard were stationed from Shanghai in the south to Peking in the north. Some shipped out to the Philippines, some were captured and spent the war as POWs and some may have been members of "Billy Port's Ride".
FACT: The march of the 4th Marines through the streets of Shanghai, down Bubbling Well Road to the docks for boarding on the "Harrison" for transport to the Philippines happened.
FACT: The actions of 2ndLT Huizanga and Chief Gunner William Lee also happened.
FACT: LT. Huizanga, WO Lee, Col. Samuel Howard and Captain Jack White were "real" Marines stationed in China.
FACT: There is no mention of this mission in any of the written histories of the Marine Corps nor is there any recording of this mission in the official records of the United States Marine Corps.
FICTION: Is it within the realm of possibility that such a mission was formed to gather the far-flung pockets of Marines? Certainly. AND--
FANTASY: Visions of being a part of an adventure such as this lives in the hearts of all who breathe adventure. So why not?
James Brady weaves the mood and emotions of the times as did artist/author Col. John W. Thomason Jr.'s chronicles of the Chinaside Marines of the 1930s. Great tales recommended to readers of adventure. Brady uses words spiced with salty, macho language. Grand stuff used by those in positions of leadership in all walks of life.
This story reads as a "National Geograhic" article with insightful, factual backgrond such as the detailed descriptions of the Legation at Peking, the Ritz Hotel in Boston, the gates of and The Great Wall with tour guide narration of the countryside for added flavor. The lesson in geography is worth the price of the book.
As in his stories on the Hamptons the names of the famous (General "Black Jack" Pershing, General Lewis "Chesty" Puller), the infamous (Pancho Villa, Rapputin), the rich (Prince Yusopov) and the ordinary (Dr. Han, Father Kean) appear throughout the story adding a degree of truth to the fantasy(?).
"Warning of War" contains sidebars of love and romance which are related without the need for the micro details of sex crowding the litrature of today. Also four letter words are few and far between used only occasionally in the dialogues of these tough, salty and macho men. Col. Thomason also wrote in this antiseptic but welcome style.
Approximately halfway into this fast-paced adventure tale the mood slows to a beautifully written scenario of Christmas as experienced by the members of "Billy Port's Ride". Carols, sincere holiday greetings, scenes of stars in the heavens pointing(?), all bringing a tug at the heart strings as good, or better, than any attempt at sentimentality written by the fantasy industry in California. This scenario brought pause to this reviewer's train of thought as he remmebered his Christmas in Korea, standing sentry duty, hearing Jo Stafford's rendition of "White Christmas" flow warmly over the newly fallen snow at his position. Memories, sad but mostly good.
This "Smell the Roses" pace is quickly absorbed back into the rapid flow of the story.
To those searching for history, read "Warning of War" for the love of adventure, not factual information. To all others, this fast-paced narrative may bring back memories and could provide you your own answer to the question presented by "Warning of War".
Is it "Fact, Fiction, or Fantasy"? It could be nothing more than a reading of a great tale of high-spirited adventure.
What more could you be looking for?

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Warning! You Can't Put it Down!, March 28, 2002

By 

Chris Suerdieck (Mattoon, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Warning of War: A Novel (Hardcover)

James Brady has once again crafted a fine story and created some memorable characters based around little known historical events.

Like his reluctant hero, Tom Verity, in the Marines of Autumn, Brady has conjured up another believable character in Billy Port. Captain Port's mission is to take a small detachment of Marines and some civilian hangers-on and make his way across the Gobi desert gathering up outlying Marine detachments. The War Warning is in the air and before they make their way to the Great Wall of China, their comrades of the 4th Marines have fallen captive to the Japanese war machine. Port and his men realize they are alone and cut off.

This is a wonderfully paced story, with a lot of detail and insider descriptions. Brady really knows his stuff. You get the sense of the Chinese countryside, the interplay between all of the forces warring on each other "out there' on the other side of the Great Wall. But above all, you feel as if you are one of the "China Hands"; the feeling of total abandonment these guys must have felt, but above all the feeling to press on and continue in the Marine Corp way.

There are quick flashes of Griffin's Killer McCoy and his exploits in China and a lot of parallels to McKenna's the Sand Pebbles. But ultimately this book stands on it's own as a great record of a little known time and place in the big picture of WWII.

That is where I think Brady has excelled, he is able to personalize a small moment in history and surround it with momentous world events. He also highlights the professionalism and pride of the Marines that fall into this situations and as in The Marines of Autumn, shows the almost mystical relation between company grade officers and their NCO's.

Semper Fi!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fine yarn, and maybe it really happened..., July 26, 2002

By 

David Linstadt (Granite Bay, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Warning of War: A Novel (Hardcover)

James Brady has always struck me as a novelist who routinely hits stand up doubles or even triples, if not long-ball home runs. His latest "Warning of War" is no exception with compelling insight into the psyche of American Warrior Marines, and with more than enough accurate documentation to make the relatively few historical errors confusing.

Did a Captain Billy Port and a platoon of China Marines really make a ride through North China and Mongolia towards an imagined Siberian sanctuary during the opening of WW2? Or is the book just an artful work of "alternative history?" Who knows? As Judge Roy Bean reportedly said, "If it didn't happen, then it should have." Either way, it's a fine summer read, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

For those of us former "Navy Pukes" who spent a few years attached to the Marines in the WESTPAC (even sometimes embraced as being "almost good enough to be a Marine"), the story rings true enough.

Thanks, Mr. Brady, for another fine novel. Keep 'em coming!