James Webb Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

James (Jim) Webb
James Henry “Jim” Webb, Jr. was born February 9, 1946 in St. Joseph, Missouri, and is an American author and politician.

He was the second of four kids, and the older son. He grew up in a military family, moving frequently as his dad’s career in the United States Air Force required. His family crisscrossed the country, living in Alabama, Texas, Missouri, California, Illinois, Nebraska, and Virginia, as well as England, where his dad was an exchange officer with the Royal Air Force.

James has attended over a dozen schools across England and the US. After he graduated from high school in Bellvue, Nebraska, he went to the University of Southern California to continue his education on a Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps scholarship from 1963 to 1964, and was a member of Delta Chi.

In 1964, he earned an appointment to the United States Naval Academy in Maryland. He was a member of the Brigade Honor Committee and the Brigade Staff. Graduating in 1968, he received the Superintendent’s Letter for Outstanding Leadership.

After he graduated from the Naval Academy, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the US Marine Corps. Attending the Marine Corps Officer Basic School after leaving Annapolis, he graduated first in his class. He was promoted to first lieutenant during the second half of his tour in Vietnam. He served as a platoon commander with Delta Company, 1st Battalion 5th Marines. James was awarded the Navy Cross for heroism during Vietnam. He was also awarded the Silver Star, two Purple Hearts, and two Bronze Stars. His war wounds left him with shrapnel in his head, knee, and kidney.

After his service in Vietnam, he was assigned to Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, as an instructor for Officer Candidates school.

After his medical retirement from the Corps due to the injuries he suffered in Vietnam, he enrolled in law school at Georgetown University where he earned a Juris Doctor and got the Horan Award for excellence in legal writing.

He’s served as a United States Senator from Virginia, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, Secretary of the Navy, Counsel for the United States House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and he is a decorated Marine Corps officer.

Jim, outside of working in government, is also an Emmy Award winning journalist and filmmaker. He taught literature at the United States Naval Academy and was a Fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics.

On November 19, 2014, Webb, as a member of the Democratic Party, announced that he was forming an exploratory committee to evaluate a run for President of the United States in the 2016 election.

Then on July 2, 2015, he announced that he’d be joining the race for the Democratic nomination for president, yet stepped down from running in the primaries on October 20, 2015. He said that he wasn’t comfortable with so many political positions from the leadership of the party.

In the year 2020, he was named the first distinguished fellow of University of Notre Dame’s International Security Center.

“Fields of Fire” is the first stand alone novel and was released in 1978. They each had their reasons for being a soldier. And they all had their illusions. Snake got the tattoo: Death Before Dishonor, before he got the uniform. Goodrich came from Harvard. And Hodges was haunted by the ghosts of some family heroes.

They were three young guys coming from different worlds plunged into this white-hot and murderous realm of jungle warfare like it was fought by a Marine platoon in the An Hoa Basin, in 1969. They didn’t have any way of knowing what was waiting for them. Nothing could’ve gotten them ready for the madness that would come. And in the horror and heat of battle they took on new identities, took on one another, and were each reborn in the fields of fire.

This is James Webb’s classic and searing novel about the Vietnam War, a novel of razor sharp observation, poetic power, and agonizing human truths seen through the prism of nonstop combat. Weaving together a cast of vivid characters, it captures the journey of this group of unformed men through this man made hell, until each of the men finds his fate.

“A Country Such As This” is the third stand alone novel and was released in 1981. The innocence of the 1950s, the turbulence of the 1960s and 70s. These are the years when America reached out and touched the heavens, just to be torn apart by internal conflict and a war in Southeast Asia, provide this dramatic setting for this unforgettable story of three guys and the women they love carving out a place for themselves in this society where the rules continue changing.

From the wars in Vietnam and Korea to antiwar protests in Washington and POW camps in Hanoi, from parenthood and young love to divorce and reconciliation, Webb’s eye for detail, his provocative insights, and subtle revelations have earned him the highest of literary accolades. His gripping scenes and convincing characters fully engage the reader while the three Naval Academy graduates reevaluate their country, their lives, and the price of success.

“Something to Die For” is the fourth stand alone novel and was released in 1983. It is a bloody game just as old as politics and nations. And it has always been played with the lives of the most brave and loyal.

Colonel “Wild Bill” Fogarty has been a dedicated soldier for most of his adult life, this able warrior that was left bloodied yet survived that folly known as Vietnam. Now some short sighted policy makers in Washington are manufacturing another small war for questionable purposes, gambling with human lives in a cut throat game of power, personal ambition, and greed.

“Wild Bill” has seen far too many young men being destroyed in pursuit of shadow causes. However it’s not his role to question, simply to serve, no matter where or for what reasons, and no matter who has to die.

A blisteringly authentic novel about the ruthless politics of war, a searing indictment of those at the very top that dictate military policy and is a moving tribute to the brave soldiers that have to pay the ultimate price.