Paths of Glory

An epic story of combat and injustice that remains an antiwar masterpiece

The inspiration for Stanley Kubrick’s acclaimed 1957 film of the same name, Paths of Glory explores the perilous complications involved in what nations demand of their soldiers in wartime.

Humphrey Cobb’s protagonists are Frenchmen during the First World War whose nightmare in the trenches takes a new and terrible turn when they are ordered to assault a German position deemed all but invulnerable.

When the attack fails, an inquiry into allegations of cowardice indicts a handful of lower-ranked scapegoats whose trial exposes the farce of ordering ordinary men to risk their lives in an impossible cause.

In addition to an introduction by war and literature scholar James H. Meredith and excerpts from Humphrey Cobb’s own World War I diaries, this edition also features a foreword by David Simon, creator and executive producer of the HBO series The Wire, in which he discusses the enduring power of Paths of Glory.

Introduction by JAMES H. MEREDITH