The Profession is a 2011 thriller novel by Steven Pressfield. Set in 2032, the novel depicts a highly militarized future where there is severe conflict in the Middle East. A reviewer in the Los Angeles Times favorably compared the novel to Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II's 1964 novel Seven Days in May . [1] Kirkus Reviews called the novel "A book that paints an all-too-plausible future in which America outsources its dirtiest jobs." [2]
The novel follows the actions of a soldier-mercenary named Gentilhomme from Louisiana who follows the prolific, Caesar-like, General Salter, who himself commands a mercenary army after he has been disgraced and exiled from the U.S. 'Gent', for short, is ordered to Egypt to find his old comrade and friend 'El Masri' to aid on a mission into Tajikistan, where a new oil field has been discovered.
At first their orders are to eliminate one warlord and put his son into power in Tajikistan, thus brokering a deal in which Salter will have some control over the rights of the newly discovered oil. However, upon learning of the news that the elder warlord has already been killed, their orders are changed. They eliminate the younger warlord, thus leaving the nation leaderless and in chaos, creating a vacuum that China and Russia rush into and keep them blind from other affairs.
Meanwhile, Salter has taken control of all Saudi Arabian oil reserves and pipelines, strategically rigging them with explosives to be used if threatened. Salter effectively becomes the most powerful man in the world and begins bargaining away rights to the highest bidders. He hopes to seek revenge against those who had him exiled years ago and also return home as a hero and supreme commander in chief.
Gent, Salter's most loyal soldier and the closest thing to a son he has had since his own son's death, is the only man that can stop him.
 | This section possibly contains original research .(July 2017) |
As per most Pressfield books, there are several reoccurring themes that are present in The Profession as well. There is, as always, the theme of warriors uniting in fraternity and under a mystic warrior code. This dynamic is especially strong between Gent and El Masri.
A minor theme is that of reincarnation, or re-occurrence of events, that seem to always find their characters through fate. For example, Gent narrates that he has always had a specific dream that in the end was his destiny in one life and one lived thousands of years before.
There are also references to Alexander the Great which has been the subject of several of Pressfield's novels.
There is a theme of liberty versus empire that is depicted in this novel and manifested in Gent, who has difficulty deciding between the two. It parallels the difficulties of the Roman Empire with the gain of Imperial power at the expense of liberty and freedom of the people. At the end of the novel, the United States republic has a similar end as did the Roman republic and Salter is even likened to Julius Caesar.
Xena: Warrior Princess is an American fantasy television series filmed in New Zealand, which aired in first-run syndication from September 4, 1995, to June 18, 2001.
The 13th Warrior is a 1999 American historical fiction action film based on Michael Crichton's 1976 novel Eaters of the Dead, which is a loose adaptation of the tale of Beowulf combined with Ahmad ibn Fadlan's historical account of the Volga Vikings.
The Years of Rice and Salt is an alternate history novel by American science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson, published in 2002. The novel explores how world history might have been different if the Black Death plague had killed 99 percent of Europe's population, instead of a third as it did in reality. Divided into ten parts, the story spans hundreds of years, from the army of the Muslim conqueror Timur to the 21st century, with Europe being re-populated by Muslim pioneers, the indigenous peoples of the Americas forming a league to resist Chinese and Muslim invaders, and a 67-year-long world war being fought primarily between Muslim states and the Chinese and their allies. While the ten parts take place in different times and places, they are connected by a group of characters that are reincarnated into each time but are identified to the reader by the first letter of their name being consistent in each life.
The Warlord Chronicles or The Warlord Trilogy is a series of three novels about Arthurian Britain written by Bernard Cornwell. The story is written as a mixture of historical fiction and Arthurian legend. The books were originally published between 1995 and 1997 by Penguin and Michael Joseph in the United Kingdom and by St. Martin's Press in the United States. It has been adapted for television as The Winter King.
The Serpent Squad is a fictional mercenary group composed of snake-themed criminals appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Most often antagonists of Captain America, the roster has changed through various incarnations.
The Legend of Bagger Vance is a 2000 American sports fantasy drama film directed by Robert Redford, and starring Will Smith, Matt Damon, and Charlize Theron. The screenplay by Jeremy Leven is based on Steven Pressfield's 1995 book The Legend of Bagger Vance: A Novel of Golf and the Game of Life. The film is set in 1931 Georgia. It was the final film starring Jack Lemmon and Lane Smith.
Connor Iggulden is a British author who writes historical fiction, most notably the Emperor and Conqueror series. He also co-authored The Dangerous Book for Boys with his brother Hal. In 2007, Iggulden became the first person to top the UK fiction and nonfiction lists at the same time.
Steven Pressfield is an American author of historical fiction, nonfiction, and screenplays, including his 1995 novel The Legend of Bagger Vance and 2002 nonfiction book The War of Art.
Casca is a series of historical fantasy novels created by author Barry Sadler in 1979. The stories revolve around the exploits of Casca Rufio Longinus, the Roman legionary who drove the Holy Lance into the side of Jesus Christ on Golgotha. As a result of this action, Casca is cursed with immortality, and he is to wander the Earth aimlessly, always as a soldier, until the Second Coming. The character is loosely based on the Longinus legend of Christianity.
Gates of Fire is a 1998 historical fiction novel by Steven Pressfield that recounts the Battle of Thermopylae through Xeones, a perioikos born in Astakos, and one of only three Greek survivors of the battle.
Into the Wild is a fantasy novel about the lives of fictional cats, written by a team of authors using the pseudonym Erin Hunter. The novel was published by HarperCollins in Canada and the United States in January 2003, and in the United Kingdom in February 2003. It is the first novel in the Warriors series. The book has been published in paperback and e-book formats in twenty different languages. The story is about a young domestic cat named Rusty who leaves his human owners to join a group of forest-dwelling feral cats called ThunderClan, adopting a new name: Firepaw. He is trained to defend and hunt for the clan, becomes embroiled in a murder and betrayal within the clan, and, at the end of the book, receives his warrior name, Fireheart, after a battle with another clan. The novel is written from the perspective of Fireheart.
The Afghan Campaign is a historical novel by the American writer Steven Pressfield. It was first published in 2006 by Doubleday. It is the story of Alexander the Great's invasion of the Afghan kingdoms in 330 BC through the eyes of Matthias, a young soldier from Macedonia, who narrates the adventures of the Macedonian army against the Eastern warriors. Matthias fights for Alexander the Great's infantry confronting ferocious people who, determined to defend their homeland, follow tough war methods.
The Sacred Band of Stepsons is a fictional ancient cavalry unit created by Janet Morris and based on the historical Sacred Band of Thebes, an elite strike force of paired lovers and friends that flourished during the fourth century BC in ancient Greece. The Sacred Band of Stepsons series of fantasy novels and stories take place in a myth-like milieu that mixes historical places such as Nisibis, Mygdonia and Chaeronea; warriors such as Theagenes ; gods such as Enlil, Maat and Harmonia; philosophers such as Heraclitus and Thales; cavalry tactics and customs such as homosexuality in the militaries of ancient Greece with those that exist only in fantasy. The exploits of the Stepsons are chronicled in eleven short stories and nine novels. In a fantasy context, this series explores the difficulties facing war-fighters in personal relationships and the enduring questions surrounding the military's historical mixing of homosexuals and heterosexuals in combat.
The Ice Princess is a crime novel by Swedish author Camilla Läckberg. As her debut novel, it was originally published in 2003 in Swedish, entitled Isprinsessan. The novel follows detective Patrik Hedström and writer Erica Falck investigating a suspicious suicide. A sequel, The Preacher was published in 2004 and subsequently translated to English in 2009.
Killing Rommel is a 2008 historical fiction novel by Steven Pressfield set in North Africa during World War II. The book follows the actions of the British Long Range Desert Group (LRDG).
Resistance is a concept created by American novelist Steven Pressfield that illustrates the universal force that he claims acts against human creativity. It was first described in his non-fiction book The War of Art and elaborated in the follow-up books Do The Work and Turning Pro, and in other essays. It is also a recurring theme in some of his fiction novels such as The Legend of Bagger Vance and The Virtues of War.
Gregor and the Code of Claw is a children's novel by author Suzanne Collins, best known for her Hunger Games trilogy. It is the fifth and final book of The Underland Chronicles, and was published in 2007. The novel has been praised as a conclusion to The Underland Chronicles. The Kirkus Reviews observed, "The resolution is bittersweet but faintly hopeful—a fitting end for an unflinchingly gutsy series whose deftly drawn characters have always lived dangerously." An audiobook version was released in 2008 read by Paul Boehmer.
Warriors of the Storm is the ninth historical novel in The Saxon Stories series by Bernard Cornwell, first published in October 2015. It is set in 10th-century Mercia, Northumbria and Northern Ireland and continues to follow the fortunes of the fictional Uhtred of Bebbanburg.
Steven Hartov is an American-Israeli author of fiction and non-fiction works, journalist, screenwriter, lecturer in international security affairs and former Editor-in-Chief of "Special Operations Report". His works are recommended readings by the U.S. Army War College.