This essay is about military fiction, about war novels. While many are written, little in the way of serious critic ism of the war novel has been produced, and what there is of it is not usually very good. This is especially true of critiques of war novels which were written during wars or immediately thereafter. Critics are inclined to applaud almost anything that endorses their view of war, and their view of war is usually the same as the war novelist\u27s: i.e., war is hateful if not downright bestial, and it is directed by people who do not know what they are doing
