The Big War is the second novel of Anton Myrer

Anton Myrer

Anton Olmstead Myrer was an American author, known best for writing the historical fiction military novel Once An Eagle .-Early years and military service:...

, published by Appleton Century Crofts in 1957. While Myrer is best known for his 1968 novel Once an Eagle

Once an Eagle

Once An Eagle is a nine hour American television mini-series directed by Richard Michaels and E.W. Swackhamer. The picture was written by Peter S...

, this was his first commercial and critical success.

The ordinary soldier's perception of battle is described in this book in a manner much like Saving Private Ryan

Saving Private Ryan

Saving Private Ryan is a 1998 American war film set during the invasion of Normandy in World War II. It was directed by Steven Spielberg, with a screenplay by Robert Rodat. The film is notable for the intensity of its opening 27 minutes, which depicts the Omaha Beach assault of June 6, 1944....

or Band of Brothers, although in this work Myrer also gives a detailed description of life on "the home front" for both soldiers (during leave) and their families.

Critical reviews

Clifton Fadiman

Clifton Fadiman

Clifton P. "Kip" Fadiman was an American intellectual, author, editor, radio and television personality.-Literary career:...

 compared The Big War to The Naked and the Dead

The Naked and the Dead

The Naked and the Dead is a 1948 novel by Norman Mailer. It was based on his experiences with the 112th Cavalry Regiment during the Philippines Campaign in World War II...

. Commonweal

Commonweal

Commonweal is a American journal of opinion edited and managed by lay Catholics. It is headquartered in The Interchurch Center in New York City.-History:...

compared it to War and Peace

War and Peace

War and Peace is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in 1869. The work is epic in scale and is regarded as one of the most important works of world literature...

and The Red Badge of Courage

The Red Badge of Courage

The Red Badge of Courage is a war novel by American author Stephen Crane . Taking place during the American Civil War, the story is about a young private of the Union Army, Henry Fleming, who flees from the field of battle. Overcome with shame, he longs for a wound—a "red badge of courage"—to...

. The Boston Herald

Boston Herald

The Boston Herald is a daily newspaper that serves Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and its surrounding area. It was started in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States...

described it as a modern Iliad

Iliad

The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...

.

Adaptations

This novel became the basis for the 1958 movie In Love and War

In Love and War

In Love and War may refer to:In film and TV* In Love and War , a film based on a novel by Anton Myrer* In Love and War , a film based on a book about Ernest Hemingway during World War I...

, starring Robert Wagner

Robert Wagner

Robert John Wagner is an American actor of stage, screen, and television.A veteran of many films in the 1950s and 1960s, Wagner gained prominence in three American television series that spanned three decades: It Takes a Thief , Switch , and Hart to Hart...

 Jeffrey Hunter, Bradford Dillman and Hope Lange

Hope Lange

Hope Elise Ross Lange was an American stage, film, and television actress.- Early life :Lange was born into a theatrical family in Redding, Connecticut...

.