THE HESSIAN

by Howard Fast ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 6, 1972

Is war merciless? Or are men merciless?"" wonders compassionate Dr. Feversham and there are many homiletic variations on the theme (""War without charity is a ghastly thing"" -- ""all war is murder"") of this small story set during the Revolution in a small Connecticut town. A band of Hessians marches through it, hanging a native en route, and in reprisal an ambush is organized killing all but one, a ""bellyful of slaughter."" The survivor is the Hessian, a boy of 15 or 16, sheltered for a time by a Quaker family (""Yet thee live by sufferance even as I do"") until his trial and execution, ordered by the closed-minded Squire Hunt, become inevitable. Mr. Fast espouses contemplative courage and edifying moments of decision from which you can draw a kind of old-fashioned universaility and even extend it -- to the recent Calley business. But essentially the book is the well-constructed, simple, and readable story he has been known to write through the years.

Pub Date: Sept. 6, 1972

ISBN: 1563246015

Page Count: -

Publisher: Morrow

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1972

Categories: FICTION