The Trench Soldier

Casca #21

by Barry Sadler

World War I. It was mankind’s first taste of modern warfare. And before it ended, most of Europe would turn into a corpse-littered battleground. Thousands would die in the hail of machine-gun fire, by the burning agony of mustard gas, and on the blood-soaked steel of a bayonet. There was no honor or glory for the soldiers who fought in the rat-infested trenches…

And for Casca, there was only the horror of a new kind of war – and a bitter envy for the dead.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Military Fiction

190 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 1989

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

American author, musician and former green beret.

To the general public he is most known for the hit single "Ballad of the green berets"

After his musical career he decided to write a series of novels centered around the character "Casca Rufio Longinius" Who is cursed for piercing Jesus on the crucifix with a spear and is forced to forever remain a soldier until the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

In the mid 1980s Sadler moved to Guatemala City where he was shot in the head one night in a taxi. He spent 7 months in a coma and died more than a year later.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

This wasn't a novel so much as a series of sketches. It had a very unfinished feel about it, but was still a pretty good soldier's view of WWI if you can ignore some glaring errors.

The most glaring is the defense of the Maginot Line, which wasn't constructed until decades later & is one of the greatest examples of the generals fighting the previous war. The French wished they had the Maginot Line in WWI, but constructed it in the 30's, & the Germans simply skirted it in WWII, catching the French off guard.

A couple of passages about the crazy amount of shelling could have been cribbed from Ernst Jünger's Storm of Steel, a far better book, but written from a German soldier's perspective of the war. (Careful of the edition & translation. There are a bunch & the tone varies from anti-war to pro-Nazi. My 5 star review of one edition is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... )

I've read that Saddler often used ghost writers & this is one of the last books published before his death. For more on the over all series, this Wikipedia entry is pretty good:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casca_(s...

I wouldn't spend much money on it, but I'm glad I read it. It was a quick & easy read, anyway.

[Phillip Fuller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book tells the story of the first world war's trench warfare through the eyes of a soldier's point of view and it is a grim view. What sums up Casca's experience in the war is that it was a rich man's war and a poor man's fight. Many of Casca's comrades were Welsh coal miners who went from the hard life of the mines to a soldier's life with worse pay and more deadly conditions. Casca who is secretly an immortal warrior sees trench warfare as the most pointless slaughter with no clear objectives. The coal miners died in mine accidents but it was for making a living but the war was senseless death.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Casca goes to war in Flanders' Fields after a brief stint as a coal miner. Reliving his time in the Roman copper mines as a slave. Sadler seems to have found a voice for commentary about the societal impact of war a bit more than in many of the previous novels. Casca ends up on a ship bound for Gallipoli at the end of the book after meeting the Red Barron and a few other luminaries.

[John Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one clues you into the possibility that not all of Sadler's race cars were on the track. A really weird and unnecessary rape scene(and our hero is one of the rapists) of a mother and daughter rivals Stephen R. Donaldson for tastelessness.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A better outing than some of the recent books. The story of the WWI was interesting even though the story was very predictable and the ending wasn't a surprise. It could have been better if it had brought back in the Brotherhood, who've not been mentioned in many of the last few books.

[Nicholas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this one did a fairly effective job of conveying the atmosphere of the trench warfare of the Western Front.

[Mark C. Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent descriptions of trench warfare and the life of Soldiers involved in that type of warfare. Very good at describing the beginning of WW I.

[thomas m dougherty]

Good storyline compliments the original books by Barry Sadler.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12669114

I don't particularly care much for the plots of the Casca novels. Although they are carefully plotted out and obviously painstakingly researched, they are very much one damn thing after another affairs that usually end with Casca's cursed body healing.

And, I am not spoiling anything by saying, "and so it is here."

The brilliant Spartan writing style does very well here. I wish Barry Sadler had written Lord of the Rings. I would have been able to read it to its conclusion.

We get to see the British Empire at its height and its greatest stupidity. We get to see so much technology in its infancy.

[Little Timmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

So you just a soldier doing your job. You shove a spear tip into the side of this supposed messiah, except he is the real thing. He curses you to wander the earth till his return. Not bad right, immortality and all. Oh but he also curses you to be a soldier forever at war, never to know peace. This is the story of Casca the Roman legionnaire that stabbed Christ. Forever wandering the earth fighting one war after another. Great adventure series. Very recommended