Something to Die For - Softcover

James Webb is a decorated Vietnam War veteran, former U.S. Secretary of the Navy, and bestselling author of Fields of Fire and The Emperor's General.

Colonel Bill Fogarty is called to fight a war in Eritrea for reasons even he, a military man down to his Tennessee genes, spots as fraudulent. He becomes a compliant victim when a major conflict between a congressman and a defense secretary needs a diversion to distract the U.S. public. In the familiar web of international manipulation and megalomaniacal ambitions of twisted bureaucrats, Webb argues that if soldiers must die, let them die for worthy causes. Author of the revered Fields of Fire ( LJ 9/1/1978), he tries to instill into this fictionalized battle account the anguish of a real war. The transference does not quite take. Instead this morality play-cum-thriller must rely on portraits and vignettes of real-life Washington. In their own way, these are very good and certainly measure up to the demands of the Washington novel, but Webb fans will feel as if they consumed a Twinkie when they thought they were getting seven-grain bread.
- Barbara Conaty, Library of Congress
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.