Mr. Fussell--a decorated combat veteran and highly regarded literary critic--had

been accused of pacifism and lack of patriotism because of his books on the nature of

warfare. This rich discussion disposes of the simplisms and places war in its full context.

PF: "I really wrote the book for younger people. I wasn't aware ... that I would get so

much flak from people my age, because I thought it was fairly obvious that I thought the

[Second World] War was a war in a good cause and a necessary cause. Obviously the

Nazis and the German armed forces had to be destroyed. No question about it." "I was

trying to make it impossible for people to talk again about body counts,... as if the

people being killed were not human beings with, forgive the expression, souls, no matter

how loathsome or offensive. I killed a great many Germans, and I doubt if I killed a

single Nazi, actually.... Even in a good war you have to do terrible things." "I don't

really object to war, in a sense. I object to not understanding war."