Jean Lartéguy – författare

When The Centurions was first published in 1960, readers were riveted by the thrilling account of soldiers fighting for survival in hostile environments. They were equally transfixed by the chilling moral question the novel posed: how to fight when the "age of heroics is over."As relevant today as it was half a century ago,The Centurions is a gripping military adventure, an extended symposium on waging war in a new global order, and an essential investigation of the ethics of counterinsurgency. Featuring a foreword by renowned military expert Robert D. Kaplan, this important wartime novel will again spark debate about controversial tactics in hot spots around the world.

Out of print for decades and praised by the likes of Stanley McChrystal, Robert Kaplan, and David Petraeus, The Praetorians picks up in the footsteps of The Centurions. When a group of French paratroopers serving in the Algerian war are called to answer for actions they consider necessary, however immoral, they plot a coup that results in a new French government and in the death of one of their own. Based on the events of May 1958 in France, The Praetorians continues with some of Lartéguy's most persistent, and most pertinent, themes: counterinsurgency, the ugly, self-conflicted nature of modern war, and the seemingly unbridgeable gulf between the experiences of soldiers and of the civilians they serve. A former soldier himself, Lartéguy writes with unique authority on war and with a clear insight into the human costs of global conflict.

The military cult classic with resonance to the wars in Iraq and Vietnam—now back in printWhen The Centurions was first published in 1960, readers were riveted by the thrilling account of soldiers fighting for survival in hostile environments. They were equally transfixed by the chilling moral question the novel posed: how to fight when the “age of heroics is over.” As relevant today as it was half a century ago, The Centurions is a gripping military adventure, an extended symposium on waging war in a new global order, and an essential investigation of the ethics of counterinsurgency. Featuring a foreword by renowned military expert Robert D. Kaplan, this important wartime novel will again spark debate about controversial tactics in hot spots around the world.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.From the Trade Paperback edition.

Jean Lartéguy''s unflinching sequel to The Centurions, a searing novel of modern warfare admired by military experts, with a foreword by General Stanley McChrystal   Based on the events of May 1958 in France and Algeria, The Praetorians picks up in the footsteps of The Centurions, which was called “a stunning reflection of modern war” by Stanley McChrystal. After turning to tactics of guerilla warfare, a group of French paratroopers serving in the Algerian War is called to answer for actions they consider necessary, however immoral. Fearing another loss of French honor, they plot a coup that results in the return to power of Charles de Gaulle and the death of one of their own. With resonance to modern conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, The Praetorians further develops some of Lartéguy’s most persistent and pertinent themes: counterinsurgency, the ugly, morally conflicted nature of modern war, and the seemingly unbridgeable gulf between the experiences of soldiers and of the civilians they serve.   For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Surrounded on all borders but its western coastline by hostile and aggressive neighbors, the state of Israel resembles the walled city of the Middle Ages. But its walls are not stone and mortar, they are flesh and blood—they are the soldiers, both men and women—the airmen, the intelligence, the tankscorpsmen and the paratroops. These young people—from the old ghettos of Europe, from the cities of North Africa and Asia, native-born Sabras—are the protecting wall that keeps Israel free.The Walls of Israel is Jean Lartéguy’s fascinating 1968 study of the Israeli armed forces. Talking with them, living with them, joining in their operations (he was taken along on a nighttime ambush set up to catch Syrian infiltrators), Lartéguy got to know the Israeli soldier as few could. From this book, wide ranging and filled with lively anecdotes, emerges a picture of an army, tough and determined, yet intelligent and realistic enough to foresee a long and dangerous road ahead before a peace is won.