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Something To Die For [First Edition]
James Webb, who burst on the literary scene in 1978 with the widely praised novel Fields of Fire, made front-page headlines around the country when he resigned as Secretary of the Navy over a matter of principle. Now Webb, who is a decorated combat Marine, an Emmy Award-winning journalist, and a former assistant secretary of defense, adds to these achievements the ultimate Washington insider's novel about America's hidden power struggles.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1991
82 people want to read
About the author
James Webb
97 books127 followersJames Henry "Jim" Webb, Jr. is an American politician and author. He has served as a United States Senator from Virginia, Secretary of the Navy, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, Counsel for the United States House Committee on Veterans' Affairs and is a decorated Marine Corps officer.
Outside of working in government, Webb is also an Emmy Award winning journalist, filmmaker, and author of ten books. He taught literature at the United States Naval Academy and was a Fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics. As a member of the Democratic Party, Webb announced on November 19, 2014, that he was forming an exploratory committee to evaluate a run for President of the United States in 2016. On July 2, 2015, he announced that he would be joining the race for the Democratic nomination for president, but stepped down from running in the primaries on October 20, 2015, stating that he was "not comfortable" with many political positions from the party's leadership.
In 2020, Webb was named the first distinguished fellow of University of Notre Dame's International Security Center.
Senator Webb is also an author of many books, stating that "I've written for a living all my life, so writing is as much a part of me as working out."
Outside of working in government, Webb is also an Emmy Award winning journalist, filmmaker, and author of ten books. He taught literature at the United States Naval Academy and was a Fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics. As a member of the Democratic Party, Webb announced on November 19, 2014, that he was forming an exploratory committee to evaluate a run for President of the United States in 2016. On July 2, 2015, he announced that he would be joining the race for the Democratic nomination for president, but stepped down from running in the primaries on October 20, 2015, stating that he was "not comfortable" with many political positions from the party's leadership.
In 2020, Webb was named the first distinguished fellow of University of Notre Dame's International Security Center.
Senator Webb is also an author of many books, stating that "I've written for a living all my life, so writing is as much a part of me as working out."
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 4, 2010
This book was highly recommended to me by a friend who claims this was the best book he's ever read.
With that kind of endorsement, I'm giving it a shot.
I finished the book, and WOW what an ending. This story is brilliantly written, and is definitely a page-turner that I couldn't put down.
I highly recommend this book to Tom Clancy fans, because the writing styles are similar.
With that kind of endorsement, I'm giving it a shot.
I finished the book, and WOW what an ending. This story is brilliantly written, and is definitely a page-turner that I couldn't put down.
I highly recommend this book to Tom Clancy fans, because the writing styles are similar.
April 8, 2023
Set in the early 1990s at the tail end of the cold war, this novel explores the dichotomy of conniving, self interested politicians and the men they'll never know whom they send to die. In the case of the novel, as is often the case in reality, it is for poorly thought out reasons with no clear endstate in mind. Written by a man who had the experience of both combat and bureaucracy, the thoughts and ideals of a military officer wishing to do right by his men contrast with those on Capitol Hill. Jim Webb lends credence to both: he was awarded two purple hearts, the silver star, and the navy cross for his service in Vietnam. Subsequently, he served as the secretary of the navy during the Reagan administration.
This book proved to be tragically prescient. Published in 1991, it predated the US's long, bloody, and ultimately pointless war on terror. It is uncanny how accurately the book predicted the future. It makes one wonder if politicians will ever heed Webb's message.
Though not as good as Field of Fire in my opinion, this book serves a different purpose: juxtaposing those who sit in air conditioned offices who make--at best--foolish decisions and those who suffer the consequences of those decisions, often with their lives.
This book proved to be tragically prescient. Published in 1991, it predated the US's long, bloody, and ultimately pointless war on terror. It is uncanny how accurately the book predicted the future. It makes one wonder if politicians will ever heed Webb's message.
Though not as good as Field of Fire in my opinion, this book serves a different purpose: juxtaposing those who sit in air conditioned offices who make--at best--foolish decisions and those who suffer the consequences of those decisions, often with their lives.
November 18, 2010
More military minutia then I needed. It has the rogue military officer, starting a war without authorization. It has plenty of DC political intrigue from the president to the cabinet to the congress. Jim Webb seems to have had experience in many of these areas, making the book seem true to life. But it is distressing if this book accurately reflects some actual or possible level of real insecurity within our military and political system. I wonder what Webb says about his novels now that he is a U.S. Senator.
June 6, 2020
Good if you like a vivid description of a military battle in the middle east and the politics of war in Washington, D.C. and how they are connected.
October 27, 2025
I read this in the 90s after having read Webb's first book Fields of Fire.
Wanted to re-read this and as I did some aspects of the plot were familiar but I had completely forgotten that like a few other thrillers of the era (examples; Michael Chrichton’s Rising Son, Tom Clancy’s Debt of Honor) this plot showcased (fairly significantly) the anger and resentment in US politics and business palatable at time villainizing the Japanese. Largely forgotten today and this was one of the biggest plot points, as big as the actual cold war (what turned out to be the last days of it) aspects.
Overall, the book still holds up so far as showing the duplicity in politics and bureaucrats. I find it interesting that Webb chose to set the conflict around the real and ongoing (at the time he wrote it) war for independence in Eritrea, rather than simply make up a country as many authors do. This added a level of authenticty that use of a fictional country loses, but at the same time, once Eritrea won its independence just a couple of years after the book was published, it loses a lot of that authenticity as readers after would know this did not happen and could not happen (except in some kind of parallel world…) So it might have been better off being set in a fictional locale.
Its been a while since I’ve read any Tom Clancy, but I feel this novel is on par with any of his. Both the high levels of authenticity and plausibility in political intrigue, and war fighting scenes. And Webb was able do it all in a complete story in only 400 pages whereas Clancy routinely went well over 1000 pages. I also feel like Webb’s scenarios were a little more accurate than Clancy’s later stories, say from Debt of Honor on, which were implausible.
Where Clancy surpassed Webb and the actual prolific political/military thriller writers was in his characters. He got so much credit for his military technical authenticity, and he deserves it, but Webb matches here but Webb’s characters just don’t come alive. Most we know nothing about their backgrounds beyond what we’d get from a CV. Their personalities also felt a little stiff and cookie cutter.
But overall, I was actually surprised by this re-read. I think at the time I first read it I felt the opposite, that Clancy’s stories, including the latter stuff, was better, my feeling was this was a good book but just not as detailed or creative as Clancy. Now, I guess when I’m older and wiser, I find this the better story (I almost finished it in a day;and its 400 pages), its only the author’s limited character creation that kept it from the fifth star. 4/5 stars, one of the only books I think has gained a star from me after a re-read many years later.
Wanted to re-read this and as I did some aspects of the plot were familiar but I had completely forgotten that like a few other thrillers of the era (examples; Michael Chrichton’s Rising Son, Tom Clancy’s Debt of Honor) this plot showcased (fairly significantly) the anger and resentment in US politics and business palatable at time villainizing the Japanese. Largely forgotten today and this was one of the biggest plot points, as big as the actual cold war (what turned out to be the last days of it) aspects.
Overall, the book still holds up so far as showing the duplicity in politics and bureaucrats. I find it interesting that Webb chose to set the conflict around the real and ongoing (at the time he wrote it) war for independence in Eritrea, rather than simply make up a country as many authors do. This added a level of authenticty that use of a fictional country loses, but at the same time, once Eritrea won its independence just a couple of years after the book was published, it loses a lot of that authenticity as readers after would know this did not happen and could not happen (except in some kind of parallel world…) So it might have been better off being set in a fictional locale.
Its been a while since I’ve read any Tom Clancy, but I feel this novel is on par with any of his. Both the high levels of authenticity and plausibility in political intrigue, and war fighting scenes. And Webb was able do it all in a complete story in only 400 pages whereas Clancy routinely went well over 1000 pages. I also feel like Webb’s scenarios were a little more accurate than Clancy’s later stories, say from Debt of Honor on, which were implausible.
Where Clancy surpassed Webb and the actual prolific political/military thriller writers was in his characters. He got so much credit for his military technical authenticity, and he deserves it, but Webb matches here but Webb’s characters just don’t come alive. Most we know nothing about their backgrounds beyond what we’d get from a CV. Their personalities also felt a little stiff and cookie cutter.
But overall, I was actually surprised by this re-read. I think at the time I first read it I felt the opposite, that Clancy’s stories, including the latter stuff, was better, my feeling was this was a good book but just not as detailed or creative as Clancy. Now, I guess when I’m older and wiser, I find this the better story (I almost finished it in a day;and its 400 pages), its only the author’s limited character creation that kept it from the fifth star. 4/5 stars, one of the only books I think has gained a star from me after a re-read many years later.
May 11, 2012
I read this a long time ago, but I really enjoyed it. I thought the plot was well driven, and it offered quite a bit of insight into war and politics...although it is most likely not insight but merely fiction.
September 29, 2008
Meeting Fogarty again was very special and moving in this story.
Read
December 15, 2012excellent
March 6, 2015
Interesting. Probably more provocative and timely when it was published in 1991.
July 2, 2015
“I killed soldiers I did not hate, to fulfill the desires of politicians I did not love.”
June 3, 2016
fun read
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews