The Lieutenants

Brotherhood of War, Book 1

By: W. E. B. Griffin

Narrated by: Eric G. Dove

Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

They were the young ones, the bright ones, the ones with the dreams. From the Nazi-prowled wastes of North Africa to the bloody corridors of Europe, they honorably answered the call. War - it was their duty, their job, their life. They marched off as boys and they came back - those who made it - as soldiers and professionals forged in the heat of battle....

©1986 W.E.B. Griffin (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“An American epic.” (Tom Clancy)

Wonderful presentation

I have read the Brotherhood of a War series three times, today I finished my first audio book ever as it was truly amazing. I was able to get into the book and heard things I have skimmed over in the past. Great job, I hooked on the audio books and will start The Captains tomorrow. Outstanding job, five stars

amazing

This is the third time I have read this series. I was introduced to it when I was in Ansbach, Germany as a private in my first military assignment. it was an old paperback that had been left on a bus that I was to take to see Dachau, the concentration camp. Both made a lasting impression on me.

Excellent

I haven’t read anything by this writer in decades I forgot how much I enjoyed him. It was great.

Fan

I love the whole series. I listen for the enjoyment and Griffin is a good story teller

Interesting Story

I thoroughly enjoyed the story for I had finally realized I had not read the book. I have read all the books after it.

Historical Genius

If You want to read War and get into the uniforms, helmets, and bloodlines of those who were there ... this series is the ticket and the Lieutenants is the Ride

IT'S NOT WHAT YOU KNOW, BUT WHO YOU KNOW

If you have not read Griffin, you may think these are war stories. This is my fourth book, mostly due to liking the first book and then a sale that came out. Very little of the books have to do with war. They are mostly military soap operas. This starts out at the very end of World War 2. There is also some action that takes place in Greece afterwards.

I did enjoy this book, mostly due to the characters. I also learned more about why we had a cold war. It seems Russia may have taken Americans prisoner and may have killed on purpose some Americans. It was all kept hush hush. We on the other hand killed some Russians. The Russians are depicted as doing a lot of raping of the Germans and torturing, etc. Course we are getting our side of the story and I am pretty sure the Russians have some atrocities to report.

I also didn't know about the civil war in Greece, where the communists tried to take over the country and we sent in advisors, of which some were killed. Those who fought in Greece did not get the benefits or acknowledgements that the WWII soldiers got since it was a police action.

There was a lot about the politics in the Army and the caste system.

The two books I enjoyed were written in the 80's and the two I did not enjoy were written in 2008. I don't know if that had something to do with it. This does have some lovable characters.

Excellent!

I first read this book, in paper format, almost 30 years ago and enjoyed it so much I subsequently bought and read all of the “ranked” sequels (The Captains, The Majors, The Colonels and The Generals). All were equally good and I was sorry to have completed the series.

While the characters in the book were well drawn and their life stories interesting, I asked myself why I was so taken with these books. Even 30 years after reading them I could remember events in the books and how the characters reacted to them, and it is unusual for me to remember specific characters and events in a light read 30 years after I finished reading a book. I finally decided that it was because WEB Griffin had developed such life-like characters with interesting backgrounds and presented the military environment in which the characters function completely accurately. I spent 3 tours of duty in the military before leaving to take advantage of the GI Bill to attend both undergraduate and graduate schools and the events taking place in the book, the military characters and their wives and the world in which they live felt as realistic to me as it was possible to be. Even the military orders and letters of commendation sounded completely authentic and I could see, in the characters the writer created, traits and reactions to events that paralleled those of career military people I knew well. Nothing in the books seemed artificial, inaccurate or unreal.

I bought the Audible book with some trepidation. I had some concern that if the book was not well narrated I would be terribly disappointed and, if the book was well-done, I would end up buying all 9 volumes in the series. Still, the draw was too strong and I fairly devoured this first book, largely unable to put it down until I had completed it. Everything was as I remembered (with one exception described below), Eric Dove’s narration was first class and I had a tear in my eyes when I reached the end of the book. And, as I feared, I ended up buying the remaining 8 volumes (during the Audible sale).

The one thing about the book that surprised me was the harsh language. These are soldiers and their manner of speech is representative of the way soldiers spoke, at least years ago, when this book is set. There is not too much of it and, while it did not offend me much (I have gotten more sensitive to it as I have gotten older), I did think I should mention it in case others might find it either annoying or truly offensive.

The characters, their lives and the events are all interesting and well presented. The world in which they live and function is both interesting and accurately presented. The writing is flawless. I feel able to highly recommend this book almost without reservation.

Another wonderful series

At first I wondered why the book was titled the Lieutenants. The narrative just didn't seem to fit the title, not that I minded but it seemed to talk about the Colonels and Generals and not the Lieutenants. After awhile it became clear that two Lieutenants were the central focus of this book. If Audible had the second book of the series "The Captains I would have down loaded it right now. I will when it is available. Good stuff.

the narrator spoils it...

Would you listen to The Lieutenants again? Why?

I have a 2 hour one way commute to work and really enjoy Griffin's books (which I read years ago). The one thing that exasperates me is the narrator's inability to pronounce words properly, and his desire to read E-V-E-R-Y letter out when reading US Army orders - as in P-R-O for promoted or D-E-T for detached. ye gods it slows the story down! So, would I listen to it again? Hmm... I'm not sure.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Lieutenants?

This time through the story, I've been struck by the cruel and dismissive use of Craig Lowell by the US Army. It is not until he meets Sandy Felter that he runs into an officer who wants to lead/help him instead of using him and then throwing him away, in contempt and/or in hatred. I'm not naive (I'm a vet of 7plus years in the USMC), but it is shocking. That said, the story really begins to thrive once we get to Greece.

Would you be willing to try another one of Eric G. Dove’s performances?

Well, if I want to read more of this series, I'll grit my teeth and try to ignore the mispronounciations... but I'd not be interested in anything else he's done. The guy who did the Corps series was much better, imo.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

What I really like is the way in which you end one of this series, and immediately want to know more about what happens next? Where will Mac be? What happens to Lowell? What about the Felters? Griffin has a gift for characterization that minimizes other things.

Any additional comments?

Griffin's stories rise above the short-comings of the narrator. If you have a goodly commute, I cannot recommend a better series to help the time move along!