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Paths of Glory is a 1935 war novel by Humphrey Cobb. Set during the World War I, the story tells about the French 181st company, which is sent by the general's order to carry out a mad attack in no man's land with the purpose to take the strategically important "the Pimple", and how the failure is covered up by court martialing "war criminals" for cowardice.

Cobb had served in World War I, as an American Soldier, but was inspired by actual events that happened something like his plot, but in the French Army.

Adaptations

In 1935, Sidney Howard wrote the Broadway stage adaptation of Cobb's novel of the same year. With its unsparing depictions of battlefield brutality, the play failed at the box office. As a World War I veteran, however, Howard believed it necessary to show the horrors of armed conflict. Convinced that the novel should be filmed one day, Howard wrote, "It seems to me that our motion picture industry must feel something of a sacred obligation to make the picture."

The film version of the novel, directed by Stanley Kubrick and starrig by Kirk Douglas, was released in 1957. Fulfilling Howard's "sacred obligation", Kubrick decided to adapt it to the screen after he remembered reading the book when he was younger. Kubrick and his partners purchased the film rights from Cobb's widow for $10,000.

See also

• List of books with anti-war themes

References

1. Diamond, Andrew (5 January 2024). "Paths of Glory". adiamond.me. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
2. Phil McArdle. "Sidney Howard: From Berkeley to Broadway and Hollywood", The Berkeley Daily Planet, December 18, 2007
3. "'Paths of Glory': Stanley Kubrick's First Step Towards Cinema Immortality". cinephiliabeyond. Archived from the original on February 16, 2019. Retrieved 15 February 2019.

External links

• Introduction: Paths of Glory by Humphrey Cobb – The Audacity of Despair (Davidsimon.com)

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