The Long March

Lieutenant Culver is jolted out of civilian security and into war by a mortar blast that leaves young Marines shredded in a chow line. The horror is physical and personal: as he recoils beside the ambulance, he realizes he is no longer the fearless officer of his youth, but an older man suddenly afraid of what military life has become. Before the battle deepens, the novel turns back to the warm order he has lost—a loving marriage, a small daughter, a promising law career, winter walks, music, and the quiet rituals of family life in New York. His recall to duty feels like a theft of happiness already in progress. Near camp, frustration mounts as Culver and Betsy struggle for housing in a shabby, exploitative town, and their rain-soaked farewell becomes another wound. In the command post, Colonel Templeton responds to casualties with cool authority, while Major Lawrence defers and Captain Mannix seethes in open contempt for the regular Marine hierarchy. Templeton's answer to declining discipline is a punishing 36-mile night march, which Mannix denounces as absurd and inhumane. Through fatigue, bitter humor, and hard-won comradeship, The Long March becomes a stark study of obedience, resentment, and the corrosive cost of war. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.