Paths of Glory

The famous impressions of the war written at and near the front. Here are all of Cobb’s experiences and observations in the Great War, of which the whole country has been talking. 'The paths of glory lead but to the grave,' said the poet, and behind all these powerful, fascinating accounts of exactly what Cobb saw, with the eye of genius, is the greatest argument for peace! Here one sees the efficiency of the Germans, the march of a million men, the smoke from 42-centimeter guns, the tragedy of widowed Belgium -- And with it one sees the necessity of ending war. A book that will last. 'The best book about the war.' -San Francisco Chronicle 'No more vivid transcription of the war has been put into print - indeed a few word pictures equal the wonderful kaleidoscopic survey of scenes and incidents in ’Paths of Glory.’' -Chicago Examiner '’Paths of Glory’ is a human book. The man who wrote it is a big man, big in his ability to crystallize the swiftly moving scenes of a world-drama into eternal form. Cobb sees the high lights, but he also sees the bitter tears of a people who are bearing a burden that they never deserved. ’Paths of Glory’ does not neglect to commend the Prussian military machine. But its appeal to us is in its American humanity.' -Boston Post 'Odd, perhaps, that one of America’s funny men should write the best war correspondent’s book, yet ’Paths of Glory’ is unsurpassed, not alone because of its rich material, but especially because of its moving style. Cobb reached deep down into human nature. Not only has he given the color of the picture, the long marches, the firing-line, the hospital, and the off-duty periods, but he has done that far more difficult task of bringing out all that war means to the many kinds of men engaged in it. In his vastly varied experiences he is able, now by a deft touch of anecdote, now by a gentle flash of quaint humor, to show the psychological reaction on the professional fighting man, the unimaginative recruit, the stunned peasant, the wounded and the dying. It is far and away the book best suited to transplant us to the other side and give us the regular everyday feeling of the war.' -The New Republic 'Easily deserves first place among recent books about the war. Mr. Cobb has an unusual talent for description, and his pages disclose a character typically American. He saw the war largely through German eyes and under German auspices, and he retained throughout something closely approximating a judicial poise; certainly there is always the manifest intention to be just and an almost meticulous adherence to fact. Nevertheless, the very perfection of the machine, the subordination of the individual to the orders of an admitted superior, leave a sense of outraged Americanism behind...Above all, perhaps, is the sincere American attitude he preserves from cover to cover of his interesting volume.' -The Dial