The Beardless Warriors
A Novel of World War II
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4.8 • 9 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
In 1944, long before he wrote such classic novels as I Am Legend and What Dreams May Come, author Richard Matheson served as an eighteen-year-old replacement in the 87th Division during the latter part of the war in Europe. His tour of duty there inspired this acclaimed novel, The Beardless Warriors, about a group of equally young and inexperienced soldiers thrown into the fury of combat.
The Beardless Warriors are a squad of teenage U.S. infantrymen fighting their way across Germany during the final weeks of the war. Under fire and in over their heads, the fresh-faced young men must grow up fast if they ever hope to see home again.
Everett Hackermeyer is the latest soldier to join the squad, "Hack," a troubled youth from a hellish family background, faces a new kind of inferno on the front lines, only to discover hidden reserves he never knew he possessed. Ironically, he doesn't come to value his own life until he runs the very real chance of losing it.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Originally published in 1960, this early novel by bestseller-list veteran Matheson (What Dreams May Come; I Am Legend) was probably inappropriately classified upon its original publication as just another post-WWII potboiler. Read again 40 years later, in the wake of more cynical and sophisticated literary responses to subsequent wars, it becomes evident what a marvelous character study it is. Pvt. Everett Hackermeyer arrives on the western front of the Allied advance into Germany on December 8, 1944. The Americans are preparing to storm the infamous Siegfried Line and advance into the Reich, knowing that they will meet their stiffest resistance yet. In the course of the next 14 days, Hack is transformed from a bewildered, somewhat indifferent teenager into a battle-scarred veteran. Gradually, he develops into a first-rate soldier, then into an almost maniacal killer of Germans, and finally into a reliable leader as he wrestles with his "inner war" and comes to terms with life, death and the meaning of human compassion. Guided by his squad leader, Sergeant Cooley, a believably drawn and nonstock father figure, Hack lives a full lifetime in less than two weeks and emerges from his "baptism by fire" as a fully developed man, warrior and hero but one without illusions. This is a sensitive and carefully wrought study in character, not only of the troubled protagonist, but also of the other squad members, each of whom must face his personal demons even as death and destruction rain all around.
