War, Pressfield knows, often exists in an ethically gray arena. Indeed, the novel's high point is not a shootout but a moral dilemma faced by Chapman and his desert rats.
It would be a stretch to say that "Killing Rommel" is destined to be regarded as Pressfield's masterpiece. "Gates of Fire," his tale of the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae first published in 1998, is taught at West Point and has achieved cult status among Marines.
Before graduating from Duke University and becoming a Hollywood screenwriter, Pressfield did a hitch in the Marine Corps in the 1960s. Even when dealing with Peloponnesian War ("Tides of War") or other centuries-old conflicts, his books reflect classic Marine teachings.
In "The Virtues of War," Pressfield's "autobiography" of Alexander the Great, Alexander's pre-battle speech to his soldiers tracks with a similar address given by a Marine general to his young grunts on the eve of the invasion of Iraq in 2003. "We must do more, brothers, than overcome the enemy by might," Alexander says. "We must show him that we are better men. Let no one dishonor himself in victory."
Alexander also lists his rules for war, including "Let us conduct ourselves in such a fashion that all nations wish to be our friends and all fear to be our enemies."
In 2004, when the 1st Marine Division set up headquarters in Ramadi, the same general ordered a sign erected proclaiming the Marines to be "no better friend, no worse enemy."
Heavily armored Humvees have replaced the horses of Alexander's time and the thin-skinned trucks of "Killing Rommel," but certain warrior values, Pressfield reminds us, remain unchanged, at least among men of honor.
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tony.perry@latimes.com
