Do you devour pulp fiction with an insatiable appetite? Share with us a review of your recent pulp reading. Was it great, or should the editors have devoted those pulp pages to another laxative ad? Feel free to review a single story, novel, or an entire issue of a particular magazine. (Max Brand fans, you can do the same in our Reviews: Recent Faust Reading section.)
Posted by ds at September 9, 2002 07:53 PM
"The Soul of a Regiment," by Talbot Mundy, is a classic Adventure Magazine story. Originally published in 1912, it was considered one of the magazine's most popular stories by its readers.
It is a Kipling-esque tale, and is a stand-alone story, not part of any series by Mundy. Yet it captures several elements that Mundy included in many of his stories: the horrors of war, and the horrors that men will enact on other men; the patronising and racist views held by one race of men about another; and loyalty -- to duty, to a cause, and to one's fellows.
The tale is relatively short but very stirring. It is located in a time with which few people today are very familiar, but familiarity with the particulars of that setting aren't necessary for enjoying this story.
You can find this story online at two places. I'll provide both URLs, because the vagaries of the Internet sometimes result in site disappearing. The first site is BlackMask.com, which features many e-texts:
http://www.blackmask.com/books52c/soulregdex.htm
The other URL for this story is this:
http://www.geocities.com/ruritanian_muglug/mundy.html
Posted by: Duane at October 3, 2002 03:20 PM
