NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the ...
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NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time. "World War Z" is the result. Never before have we had access to a document that so powerfully conveys the depth of fear and horror, and also the ineradicable spirit of resistance, that gripped human society through the plague years. Ranging from the now infamous village of New Dachang in the United Federation of China, where the epidemiological trail began with the twelve-year-old Patient Zero, to the unnamed northern forests where untold numbers sought a terrible and temporary refuge in the cold, to the United States of Southern Africa, where the Redeker Plan provided hope for humanity at an unspeakable price, to the west-of-the-Rockies redoubt where the North American tide finally started to turn, this invaluable chronicle reflects the full scope and duration of the Zombie War. Most of all, the book captures with haunting immediacy the human dimension of this epochal event. Facing the often raw and vivid nature of these personal accounts requires a degree of courage on the part of the reader, but the effort is invaluable because, as Mr. Brooks says in his introduction, "By excluding the human factor, aren't we risking the kind of personal detachment from history that may, heaven forbid, lead us one day to repeat it? And in the end, isn't the human factor the only true difference between us and the enemy we now refer to as 'the living dead'?" Note: Some of the numerical and factual material contained in this edition was previously published under the auspices of the United Nations Postwar Commission. Eyewitness reports from the first truly global war "I found 'Patient Zero' behind the locked door of an abandoned apartment across town. . . . His wrists and feet were bound with plastic packing twine. Although he'd rubbed off the skin around his bonds, there was no blood. There was also no blood on his other wounds. . . . He was writhing like an animal; a gag muffled his growls. At first the villagers tried to hold me back. They warned me not to touch him, that he was 'cursed.' I shrugged them off and reached for my mask and gloves. The boy's skin was . . . cold and gray . . . I could find neither his heartbeat nor his pulse." --Dr. Kwang Jingshu, Greater Chongqing, United Federation of China "'Shock and Awe'? Perfect name. . . . But what if the enemy can't be shocked and awed? Not just won't, but biologically can't! That's what happened that day outside New York City, that's the failure that almost lost us the whole damn war. The fact that we couldn't shock and awe Zack boomeranged right back in our faces and actually allowed Zack to shock and awe us! They're not afraid! No matter what we do, no matter how many we kill, they will never, ever be afraid!" --Todd Wainio, former U.S. Army infantryman and veteran of the Battle of Yonkers "Two hundred million zombies. Who can even visualize that type of number, let alone combat it? . . . For the first time in history, we faced an enemy that was actively waging total war. They had no limits of endurance. They would never negotiate, never surrender. They would fight until the very end because, unlike us, every single one of them, every second of every day, was devoted to consuming all life on Earth." --General Travis D'Ambrosia, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe "From the Hardcover edition."
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Add this copy of World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War to cart. $4.95, very good condition, Sold by WildFlower Mews rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from North Babylon, NY, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Books on Tape.
Add this copy of World War Z: an Oral History of the Zombie War to cart. $35.00, good condition, Sold by True Oak Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Highland, NY, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Books On Tape.
I am very happy with my purchase. The movie version raped the book, as normal.
Keelohb7
Oct 18, 2010
Not Enough
I enjoyed this book, but was ultimately disappointed. The characters in the book speak of events, but they are described as though we have really survived this war and thus does not go into detail. I would have liked this book much more if they would have described the events instead of having a simple conversation as though the events of the book were real and not fiction.
jfanning
Apr 23, 2009
hardly wait for movie
little slow starting but it was very descriptive and I really enjoyed it.
girlxfawkes
Oct 28, 2007
Quality Zombie Literature?
I like survival stories. There are two post-apocalyptic, society-is-utterly-changed-by-sudden-catastrophe books that moved me and stayed with me over time. One is Stephen King?s novel, The Stand (and for goodness? sake, read the book; don?t see the mediocre movie!). The other was Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka?s War Day. Both amazing stories came from sources I?d not expected. Third time?s a charm, I guess.
World War Z surprised me. The writing grabbed me, and not the cheesy way a ghoulish hand from under the bed grabs the stupid heroine in a horror movie. I found the structure of the novel intriguing: Brooks shares the story of World War Z by ?interviewing? the survivors ten years after ?the Crisis? has passed. The interviewees are people who were, at the time, doctors, children, government officials, military grunts, cyberpunks, pilots, gardeners at fancy international resorts. They are Americans, Chinese, Russian, Mexican, Korean, British, French, Australian. While this style of storytelling is not completely original, it is compelling. I stopped chortling about reading about zombies (of all things! not serious literature, of course!), and started hearing what Max Brooks understands about humanity ? as a whole, and as individuals. I thought he had some profound insights about resilience and depravity, about the bald cruelty of survival tactics and the ridiculous amount of luxury we think of as necessity. Most of all, as someone who has fought my own version of life-or-death demons, I really agreed with what Brooks says about hope. Pick the book up yourself, and see if you don?t find it hard to put down. Max Brooks may be a bit odd ? he is the son of Mel Brooks, the director of many tongue-in-cheek films ? but the writing here hits many issues right on the head. That?s the only way to kill the undead, or the critics, if you can tell them apart.
BruceHH
May 3, 2007
Pandemic war
This is an interesting work of fiction but in fiction one can find reality. The novel starts with a disease outbreak in China and an attempt to cover it up. It turns into a pandemic. Does SARS ring a bell, and let?s not forget some of the flu strains. People attempt to flee and pay to be smuggled into Western Europe and US through Eastern Europe and Mexico. There might not be many Chinese sneaking across our borders but there are several other nationalities doing so. The book also has China purchasing American debt. A lot of our national debt is owned by foreign countries and China is increasing its share. Part of the spread of the epidemics spread was through the criminal purchase of body parts (organs, eggs and sperm, blood). There is a lack of testing because greed is a great driver. There is a lack of preparation though an early action plan written, it?s ignored. The U.S. administration takes the easy part of plan but does not follow through with rest of plan. Intelligence services do not really know what is occurring until it?s too late. Mistaken planning exists and things are purchased not because of need but because they look pretty. Soldiers are neither trained nor equipped for the job they?re asked to perform Military programs are contracted out. Criminals rise to control of countries. Any current situations come to mind? It is a quick, interesting and enjoyable read. I recommend it for those who are expected to deal with pandemics and other emergency situations.
