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Fiction. Thriller. Historical Fiction. No one captures the drama of war as brilliantly as bestselling author W.E.B. Griffin. The Corps is his multi-volume portrait of the Marine Corps, the brave men and women who fought, loved and died in the sweeping turmoil of WW II.Tags
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Member Reviews
This book just missed being one of my five-star classics. I loved the way Griffin took his well-developed characters and put them right in the middle of WWII from Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal with his usual direct prose and eye for military procedural detail. What's really exciting is that this series is just starting to hit its stride. On to the next one....
I enjoy this series and Counterattack (#3 of 10) is excellent, also. Griffin weaves the fictional characters into real world events, fiction interacting with reality. The (boring)battle scenes are minimized, but well told. Most of the story is told through the eyes of CAPT Fleming Pickering, former CEO of a successful shipping line, who is SECNAV's liaison to McArthur. Through Pickering's reports, we learn about big picture concerns, including Army-Navy infighting that made our military less effective. Love interests? There are several and they pervade the book and the series. Much of this story is dedicated to development of the USMC coast watchers and parachute Marines, two special capabilities that contributed to the war, but weren't show more USMC core capabilities. Fun read, where's #4? show less
Griffin is a master storyteller. He grabs your interest from the first page and never let's go. His characters are real and you come to love the heroes and hate the villains. This is at least the fourth time I have started reading the series. I highly recommend you become acquainted with this author. You will not be disappointed.
Great book
First edition fine
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The Corps combines the best elements of military history and the war story.
added by keeper3014
Griffin is...the best storyteller of this or just about any other adventure genre in today's market.
added by keeper3014
Author Information
197+ Works 34,473 Members
W. E. B. Griffin is one of eight pseudonyms used by William E. Butterworth III, who was born in Newark, New Jersey on November 10, 1929. He enlisted in the U.S. Army as a private in 1946 and was assigned to the Army of Occupation in Germany. He left the service in 1947 but was recalled to active duty in 1951 because of the Korean War. After show more leaving the service for the second time, he remained in Korea as a combat correspondent. He was later appointed chief of the publications division of the Signal Aviation Test and Support Activity at the Army Aviation Center in Fort Rucker, Alabama. He received the Brigadier General Robert L. Dening Memorial Distinguished Service Award of the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association in 1991 and the Veterans of Foreign Wars News Media Award in 1999. He wrote more than 200 books including the Brotherhood of War series, The Corps series, Badge of Honor series, Honor Bound series, Presidential Agent series, Men at War series, and A Clandestine Operations Novel series. Under his own name, he wrote 12 sequels in the 1970s to Richard Hooker's book M*A*S*H. His other pen names included Alex Baldwin, Webb Beech, and Walter E. Blake. He wrote over 20 books with his son William E. Butterworth IV. He received the Alabama Author's Award in 1982 from the Alabama Library Association. He died on February 12, 2019 at the age of 89. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Awards and Honors
Distinctions
Series
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Counterattack
- Original publication date
- 1989
- People/Characters
- Kenneth R. McCoy; Edward C. Banning; Ernest Zimmerman; Fleming "Flem" Pickering
- Important places
- Hawai'i, USA; Washington, D.C., USA; Lakehurst, New Jersey, USA; San Diego, California, USA; Pensacola, Florida, USA; Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (show all 7); Queensland, Australia
- Important events
- World War II (1939-1945)
- Dedication
- The Corps is respectfully dedicated to the memories of Second Lieutenant Drew James Barrett III, USMC. Company K, 3rd Battalion, 26th Marines. Born Denver, Colorado, 3 January 1945. Died Quang Nam Province, Republic of Vietna... (show all)m, 27 February 1969; and
Major Alfred Lee Butler III, USMC. Headquarters 22nd Marine Amphibious Unit. Born Washington, D.C., 4 September 1950. Died Beirut, Lebanon, 8 February 1984.
"Semper Fi!"
And to the memory of Donald L. Schomp. A Marine Fighter Pilot who became a legendary U.S. Army Master Aviator. RIP 9 April 1989. - First words
- The Japanese Carrier Task Force charged with the destruction of the United States Pacific Fleet began launching aircraft approximately 305 nautical miles north of Pearl Harbor.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"aye, aye, sir!"
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 715
- Popularity
- 39,608
- Reviews
- 5
- Rating
- (3.95)
- Languages
- 5 — English, German, Hungarian, Polish, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 20
- ASINs
- 9
