The protagonist of A Man Under Authority had assumed a life of virtual anonymity until, in an ironic twist of fate, life intrudes and brings with it all he fought so hard to put behind him. The aging colonel has retired with his wife to the very country against which he fought. Now making a modest living by translating books into his native language, he and his wife live in a 400-year-old farmhouse and observe simple daily routines. Into this great lull comes a letter from America informing the colonel that a film company is shooting an epic about "his" war, and they want him as a consultant.
Author Reid Mitchell, an award-winning military historian, imaginatively plays out the questions of character and ethics that lie at the heart of our fascination with war, but with a twist: they unfold amidst the creation of a movie. Offered a chance to reevaluate his past, the colonel cannot overlook the bizarre pillaging of history to feed the entertainment industry. In the face of this paradox, he's challenged to ascertain the truth about his past.
The lean prose provides an ironic contrast to the anarchistic dreaminess of the action on the movie set. And a truly sharp question is posed to our entertainment-drenched culture when the colonel participates in a reconstruction of "his" battle, faced with the memory of almost being blown up and witnessing death at every turn.
The New York Times Book Review, David Murray
The colonel--half hired hand, half romanticized mythic figure--becomes involved in the frictions and intrigues of the film company, and through them he is forced to re-examine and relive his past. Was this foray back into history a vain exercise in self-delusion or an attempt to salvage his self-respect? Had he really been a brilliant military leader or was his final defeat caused not by the stupidity of his superiors but by his own mistakes?.... an engaging though elusive novel that nevertheless succeeds admirably in describing--if not completely penetrating--Clausewitz's "fog of battle."
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