The Ten Thousand

Scott Dixon #4

by Coyle Harold

Trapped in Eastern Europe by a united Germany with atomic weapons, an American army--led by Lieutenant General ""Big Al"" Malin--must fight its way to the safety of the Baltic Sea. 150,000 first printing.

Genres: Fiction, Military Fiction, Thriller, War, Historical Fiction, Adventure, Suspense

Hardcover

First published March 31, 1993

Reviews

[Rich Putnam · Rating 1 out of 5]

Harold Coyle's first novel, Team Yankee, was by far his best. The Ten Thousand has an interesting premise and is prehaps well-written, but his characters are simply unbelievable. They come off as strutting, arrogant super-soldiers with no humanity, in short, as cardboard 1-dimensional characters. Coyle must be misogynistic, the way he treats his female characters, they're either simpering and weak or - like the compnay commander - a super bitch. If I'd had a MALE commanding officer like the woman in this book, I'd have quickly been charged with assaulting a superior officer, and willingly taken the punishment for it. I hated this book, and I only recomend it for those who have no personal military experience themselves.

[Διόνυσος Ελευθέριος · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read Harold Coyle occasionally as a teenager and remember those books of his that I read for their having provided me with delicious—though vicarious—warrior fare. Now however, hoping to satisfy a recent urge to procrastinate on much more important academic work, I picked this up and thought I could justify my reading the unjustifiable by insisting that my interest in this book was—though perhaps loosely, I could say—academic. “Yes, you see? This is, ahem, academic work I’m doing here.” Faced with any imagined skepticism, or even outright disdain, I thought I could insist that Coyle’s having borrowed his title from a famous account of antiquity could respectably warrant the excuse “closer look that such an important allusion merited,” which I intended to use as my cover for what was, of course, just an unnecessary distraction. But everything failed: I never got to try out my shiny absurd excuse on anyone, and the book is just an awful book, a distraction so bad that I kept looking for distractions from it. The whole premise behind the main plot (modern day Germany elects a closet Hitler Youth as Prime Minister) was so absurd and so poorly planned that it was simply impossible for anything to come to life. Better would have been to make an even more ridiculous premise, and thereby enter openly into the realm of science fiction or even outright fantasy, then sell it as such, and allow the reader so much greater freedom from having to think, “Gosh, this is silly.” And alas, even those juvenile delights of mine could not be revived and served again: in 600 pages there were only two or three good fights. My recommendation: read the better book.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed all the hypotheticals Coyle presented in this book. There's a lot to think about in regards to human motivation and war.

[Ian Pattinson · Rating 1 out of 5]

The depiction of the combat and tactics was okay, but the premise was just stupid. American army units based in Germany go to war with their hosts after breaking the rules governing their presence in the country. Coyle tries to justify his protagonists' appalling behaviour by portraying the German leader as an unrepentant Nazi who just wants to take revenge on the Yanks.

This book's attitude of 'US might is right' is one of the things I was satirising in Sounds of Soldiers.

[Sue · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just could not find any interest in or compassion for the characters so I had to stop reading.
I wish I saw what some of the other readers did.

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gave up on this one after 70 pages.

[Austinl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book by Harold Coyle and how he describes the details of military strategy and military equipment. I liked the novel not only followed American and German troops, but also took the perspective of government leaders, their cabinet and even a neutral party like the Russian military adviser Ilvanich. I appreciated the fact that the author thought out each character and knew how each of those individuals would react in their difficult situations. The book really delves into the politics between nations. The novel begins with the Americans invading the Ukraine in an operation to capture nuclear missiles that the Ukrainians have seized with the aid of the Russians. As the nuclear devices are being transported through Germany the German Chancellor, who is bitter about losing WW II, devises a scheme to get back at the Americans. It soon begins a cat and mouse game for advantage in the conflict.

[Andreas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though the premise is a bit unrealistic, I really enjoyed this. A German Chancellor who is something of an anti-nuclear weapon fanatic forbids an American division transporting nuclear arms to go through Germany. Said division has to fight their way to the sea. The military stuff is well done, and the characters are truly three dimensional. The title and story are based on Xenophon’s account of the “Ten Thousand” and their march back to Greece in 401-399 BC.

http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=608

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding read. Take an Army division and march it across Germany to the safety of the sea, all while defying the full might of the German military with WWIII in the balance.

[Chuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Present day tale about stolen nuclear weapons and war with Germany. Good story overcooked by the author.

[Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is still one of my favorite books after all these years. A great look at leadership and the brotherhood of war. I suppose it would be more "historical fiction" now, though.

[Odinsknot · Rating 2 out of 5]

He does some good writing but the premise of this one was absurd. His characters are flat, too, which doesn't help.

[Jeff Sedlak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. Typical Coyle who kept you wanting to read more.

[Thomas Marianini · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's a ridiculos book. The story is just silly and totally "American" in it's comical unfolding.
Between neo-Hitlers, Ubba-dubba US army and the just nonsense ending. Trash.

[Shelley Alongi]

Interesting. The thinking is kind of dated I wonder how it would play out now. The German chancellor takes the cheap way out he should’ve had a change of heart that would’ve made it better. I thought it was very interesting how the west and east formerly had different philosophies about the Americans and the way a war should be run post “the last war“ And how those played out in the actions. I don’t think I would’ve thought of that and so it was doubly interesting to me. I did get lost in the detail I usually do but I think that’s why I like reading his books. I don’t read all of them I read the ones that seem interesting to me and since I’ve always had a thing about Germany I read this one because I wanted to see what he would do with all of it. I may re-read this again but not right away. I am not one for your typical if there is such a thing these days novel although there are some different ideas about how to write novels and some very intriguing subject matter. I do like to read military fiction in this one grabbed me because of it’s a diss like of the chancellors ideas. He had some very supportive members and some who were not and who did not seem afraid of making their feelings known. You can always do what you want to do with fiction can’t you? I just thought this was interesting for me the book was more interesting and its philosophical presentation rather than its characters. I know some of them have been developed throughout the previous books and I haven’t had time to read those so I didn’t spend any time trying to catch up on how they had gotten where they were. The last book I read was bright star. Would I recommend this book? Probably to somebody who is interested in military fiction and possible scenarios. It was worth a read although I did it in doses. I can only sit down for about two hours with any book so then I take a break and come back to it. I guess the next one is waiting. :-)

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I consider Tom Clancy’s “Red Storm Rising” to be the yardstick by which this genre is measured. Although this was an entertaining read, the reason why it’s 4 and not 5 stars is that whereas I couldn’t put Red Storm down while I was reading it, there were times I didn’t have that issue with this book (albeit a lot of times I did have this issue)

My many criticism, and I know it’s a characteristic of the genre, is that it jumps from character to character too much or maybe just too quickly. I feel like the characters could have been developed a little better but instead they come off as a bit cardboard.

Although the plot is interesting and something I didn’t expect, it might be a bit unrealistic, but perhaps if it is taken for the time in which it was written, not so much

[Adam Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book really has a lot of potential , however , fell short in the end. The premise was unique and interesting . However, I believed Coyle over complicated the book with too many small stories such as with Hillary Cole, a field nurse. Her, as well as a few other characters , didn’t really contribute to the story and really took away from the story. I believe the story could have benefited more from hearing about the Rangers and from Scott Dixon’s unit. It was a decent read, it just could have been so much more .

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting idea as Coyle takes Xenophon's March the Sea and transposes it to modern day Europe where former allies have become reluctant enemies. The background may been far fetched and it is a bit weird in light of current events having the Ukrainians as the bad guys at the start but it works well enough for the story which is entertaining enough. The only bugbear is the one dimensional German chancellor who is an archetypal baddie with far too much in parallel from with the one from the previous war between the US and Germany!

[Red Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting to read in 2025 book written in 1993 where the premise was that Ukraine refused to give up their nukes, the US went in and got them and removed them to Germany enroute to the US, but the Germans intercepted them and declared themselves a nuclear state. Coyle does a pretty good job with the military parts, and captures the military mindset (and variety of mindsets) pretty well.

[Guillaume · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un livre daté, forcément, avec ces américains qui font un raid en ukraine pour récuperer des nukes, puis qui font une retraite ordonnée a travers (et contre) l'Allemagne, mais l'auteur s'interesse surtout aux personnage, ce qui fait que le livre reste bon

[Pete Graves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hypothetically arming the third Reich with weapons of mass destruction that would have annihilated the coalition's military personnel and the island of Great Britain.

[Laura Karsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Mandie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75

[Mike Emett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not think a book of Coyle's would match or even beat Team Yankee. This book for me is on par with Team Yankee. I have yet to decide which is #1 and which is #2. This book is much better than the last two. It was realistic. It dealt a lot into the psyche(?) of a unified Germany whose populous remember the effects of WW2 and lived through a divided Germany, which leads to the conflict known as The Battle for Central Germany; which in the early 90's when the book was written, may have been on the minds of those who feared the returning of a radical and dangerous person to lead a reunified Germany. The action sequences was great... most pretty thrilling/intense. I enjoyed the more 3-D-ness of his characters, particularly in delving into the survivors mental and emotional state. WOW, really good!

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slightly far-fetched story but very good action scenes. Harold Coyle's early books, including this one, tend to get a little over descriptive when it comes to the military details. There's a scene in one book where he spends two pages describing the right way for a squad of soldiers to cross a road. This book is like that. But the action scenes are still very good, they save the book in my opinion.

[Raymond Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

The early '90s technothriller vision of the future was so funny. Always envisioning a friendly, democratic Russia and somehow suddenly recidivist, anti-American Germany. Book remains one of the better actually true mil-fic novels out there, though -1 star for constantly referring to "the Ukraine" instead of Ukraine. Heroyam Slava.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Ukraine has nuclear weapons and US forces from Germany attempt to remove the. Germany seizes the weapons when they are brought to that country for transport to the US. The Germany Chancellor, a former Hitler youth, wants the US forces in Germany to disarm and surrender to him. A plan is devised for a army Corps to march to the sea and rescue.

[Stewart Leonard · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not sure whether this is American propaganda or a subtle piss-take of America. Either way I found this book almost a chore to read, hoping it would get better an explain the huge leaps the plot takes. I'll save you the trouble, it doesn't. In fact the end is hugely anti-climatic.

Give this one a miss and find an author who can represent both sides of an engagement realistically.

[Kym Robinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

As an enthusiastic reader of both Coyle and his Scott Dixon saga, I found this book to be perhaps worn out or lacking when compared to the others in the series. Perhaps it was one book too many ?

In any case it is a top read compared to other authors in the genre, I just thought it missed the mark as far as the series is concerned.

50 %

[Johnny Mayall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than 'Team Yankee', but still a bit flat. There is more character development in this one, but in many cases, uninteresting or poor execution of it. Again, more of an interesting 'what if' scenario than a good story.