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Captain Jinks, Hero

First published: 1902
Pages: 167

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About this book

Written as a biting response to America's wars in Cuba and the Philippines, this satire follows Sam Jinks from a childhood spent drilling toy soldiers to a military career built on obedience and slaughter. Crosby, a disciple of Tolstoy, mocks the machinery that turns an ordinary boy into a decorated killer, skewering the jingoism and hero worship of the imperial age. The comedy is broad and the target unmistakable, a sustained attack on militarism dressed as the life story of a simpleton in uniform. The book has since been read as a forerunner of later antiwar fiction. Offered here free as a PDF and EPUB edition.

About the author

Ernest Howard Crosby

Ernest Howard Crosby (1856-1907) was an American reformer, poet, and writer. Once a judge, he abandoned his legal career after meeting Leo Tolstoy and became a leading American voice for pacifism, anti-imperialism, and social reform in the early twentieth century.

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