We look forward to seeing you on your next visit to the library. Find a location near you.

The Profession: A Novel
(Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read)

Book Cover
Average Rating
5 star
 
(0)
4 star
 
(0)
3 star
 
(0)
2 star
 
(1)
1 star
 
(0)
Published:
Crown 2011
Status:
Available from OverDrive
Description
Master storyteller and bestselling author Steven Pressfield returns with a stunning, chillingly plausible near-future thriller about the rise of a privately financed and global military industrial complex.
 
The year is 2032. The third Iran-Iraq war is over; the 11/11 dirty bomb attack on the port of Long Beach, California is receding into memory; Saudi Arabia has recently quelled a coup; Russians and Turks are clashing in the Caspian Basin; Iranian armored units, supported by the satellite and drone power of their Chinese allies, have emerged from their enclaves in Tehran and are sweeping south attempting to recapture the resource rich territory stolen from them, in their view, by Lukoil, BP, and ExxonMobil and their privately-funded armies.
Everywhere, military force is for hire. Oil companies, multi-national corporations and banks employ powerful, cutting-edge mercenary armies to control global chaos and protect their riches. Even nation states enlist mercenary forces to suppress internal insurrections, hunt terrorists, and do the black bag jobs necessary to maintain the new New World Order.
 
Force Insertion is the world's merc monopoly. Its leader is the disgraced former United States Marine General James Salter, stripped of his command by the president for nuclear saber-rattling with the Chinese and banished to the Far East. A grandmaster military and political strategist, Salter plans to take vengeance on those responsible for his exile and then come home...as Commander in Chief. The only man who can stop him is Gilbert "Gent" Gentilhomme, Salter's most loyal foot soldier, who launches a desperate mission to take out his mentor and save the United States from self destruction.
 
Infused with a staggering breadth of research in military tactics and steeped in the timeless themes of the honor and valor of men at war that distinguish all of Pressfield’s fiction, The Profession is that rare novel that informs and challenges the reader almost as much as it entertains.
Also in This Series
Formats
Adobe EPUB eBook
Works on all eReaders (except Kindles), desktop computers and mobile devices with reading apps installed.
Kindle Book
Works on Kindles and devices with a Kindle app installed.
OverDrive Read
Need Help?
If you are having problem transferring a title to your device, please fill out this support form or visit the library so we can help you to use our eBooks and eAudio Books.
More Like This
Other Editions and Formats
More Copies In LINK+
Loading LINK+ Copies...
More Details
Format:
Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read
Street Date:
06/14/2011
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780307888587
ASIN:
B004IK8PRI
Reviews from GoodReads
Loading GoodReads Reviews.
Citations
APA Citation (style guide)

Steven Pressfield. (2011). The Profession: A Novel. Crown.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

Steven Pressfield. 2011. The Profession: A Novel. Crown.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

Steven Pressfield, The Profession: A Novel. Crown, 2011.

MLA Citation (style guide)

Steven Pressfield. The Profession: A Novel. Crown, 2011.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
Copy Details
LibraryOwnedAvailable
Shared Digital Collection11
Staff View
Grouped Work ID:
b9fde44d-9824-43a2-821e-f265024f46f3
Go To Grouped Work
Needs Update?:
No
Date Added:
Jun 12, 2018 15:19:02
Date Updated:
Dec 07, 2020 19:28:08
Last Metadata Check:
Mar 26, 2024 22:00:42
Last Metadata Change:
Nov 19, 2023 07:35:58
Last Availability Check:
Mar 26, 2024 22:00:44
Last Availability Change:
Mar 26, 2024 22:00:44
Last Grouped Work Modification Time:
Mar 28, 2024 02:11:39

OverDrive Product Record

images
    • cover:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/0111-1/{A4051646-76F1-4350-A537-A5A61C482B61}Img100.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • thumbnail:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/0111-1/{A4051646-76F1-4350-A537-A5A61C482B61}Img200.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover150Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/0111-1/A40/516/46/{A4051646-76F1-4350-A537-A5A61C482B61}Img150.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover300Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/0111-1/A40/516/46/{A4051646-76F1-4350-A537-A5A61C482B61}Img400.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
formats
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780307888587
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 133749
      • name: Adobe EPUB eBook
      • id: ebook-epub-adobe
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780307888587
            • type: ASIN
            • value: B004IK8PRI
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 133749
      • name: Kindle Book
      • id: ebook-kindle
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780307888587
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 133749
      • name: OverDrive Read
      • id: ebook-overdrive
otherFormatIdentifiers
      • type: ISBN
      • value: 0385528736
mediaType
eBook
primaryCreator
    • role: Author
    • name: Steven Pressfield
title
The Profession
dateAdded
2016-10-20T18:44:00-04:00
contentDetails
      • href: https://link.overdrive.com/?websiteID=141&titleID=508416
      • type: text/html
      • account:
          • name: Sacramento Public Library (CA)
          • id: 1151
sortTitle
Profession A Novel
crossRefId
508416
subtitle
A Novel
id
a4051646-76f1-4350-a537-a5a61c482b61
starRating
3.6

OverDrive MetaData

isPublicDomain
False
formats
      • fileName: TheProfession_9780307888587_508416
      • partCount: 0
      • fileSize: 4732666
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780307888587
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 133749
      • rights:
            • type: Copying
            • value: 0
            • type: Printing
            • value: 0
            • type: Lending
            • value: 0
            • type: ReadAloud
            • value: 0
            • type: ExpirationRights
            • value: 0
      • name: Adobe EPUB eBook
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: ebook-epub-adobe
      • onSaleDate: 6/14/2011
      • samples:
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: ebook-epub-adobe
            • url: https://excerpts.cdn.overdrive.com/FormatType-410/0111-1/A40/516/46/Profession9780307888587.epub
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: ebook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=A4051646-76F1-4350-A537-A5A61C482B61&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
      • fileName: TheProfession_508416
      • partCount: 0
      • fileSize: 0
      • identifiers:
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 133749
            • type: ASIN
            • value: B004IK8PRI
      • name: Kindle Book
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: ebook-kindle
      • onSaleDate: 6/14/2011
      • samples:
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: ebook-epub-adobe
            • url: https://excerpts.cdn.overdrive.com/FormatType-410/0111-1/A40/516/46/Profession9780307888587.epub
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: ebook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=A4051646-76F1-4350-A537-A5A61C482B61&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
      • fileName: TheProfession_9780307888587_508416
      • partCount: 0
      • fileSize: 0
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780307888587
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 133749
      • name: OverDrive Read
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: ebook-overdrive
      • onSaleDate: 6/14/2011
      • samples:
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: ebook-epub-adobe
            • url: https://excerpts.cdn.overdrive.com/FormatType-410/0111-1/A40/516/46/Profession9780307888587.epub
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: ebook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=A4051646-76F1-4350-A537-A5A61C482B61&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
keywords
      • value: Political
      • value: politics
      • value: War
      • value: sci fi
      • value: romance
      • value: Action
      • value: Military Science Fiction
      • value: Iran
      • value: Fiction
      • value: crime
      • value: novels
      • value: Thrillers
      • value: Military
      • value: China
      • value: mystery
      • value: science fiction and fantasy
      • value: Adventure
      • value: espionage
      • value: Military Fiction
      • value: Science Fiction
      • value: Thriller
      • value: action adventure
      • value: Election
      • value: corruption
      • value: sci-fi
      • value: fiction books
      • value: science fiction books
      • value: sci fi books
      • value: steven pressfield
      • value: political books
      • value: science fiction novels
      • value: books science fiction
      • value: military books
      • value: war books
      • value: sci-fi books
      • value: fall of democracy
      • value: fall of the roman republic
      • value: sci fi book
      • value: books fiction
creators
      • role: Author
      • fileAs: Pressfield, Steven
      • bioText:

        Steven Pressfield is the author of several books, including the bestselling novels Gates of Fire and The Legend of Bagger Vance, as well as the cult classic on creativity The War of Art. He lives in Los Angeles.

      • name: Steven Pressfield
imprint
Crown
publishDate
2011-06-14T00:00:00-04:00
isOwnedByCollections
True
title
The Profession
fullDescription
Master storyteller and bestselling author Steven Pressfield returns with a stunning, chillingly plausible near-future thriller about the rise of a privately financed and global military industrial complex.
 
The year is 2032. The third Iran-Iraq war is over; the 11/11 dirty bomb attack on the port of Long Beach, California is receding into memory; Saudi Arabia has recently quelled a coup; Russians and Turks are clashing in the Caspian Basin; Iranian armored units, supported by the satellite and drone power of their Chinese allies, have emerged from their enclaves in Tehran and are sweeping south attempting to recapture the resource rich territory stolen from them, in their view, by Lukoil, BP, and ExxonMobil and their privately-funded armies.
Everywhere, military force is for hire. Oil companies, multi-national corporations and banks employ powerful, cutting-edge mercenary armies to control global chaos and protect their riches. Even nation states enlist mercenary forces to suppress internal insurrections, hunt terrorists, and do the black bag jobs necessary to maintain the new New World Order.
 
Force Insertion is the world's merc monopoly. Its leader is the disgraced former United States Marine General James Salter, stripped of his command by the president for nuclear saber-rattling with the Chinese and banished to the Far East. A grandmaster military and political strategist, Salter plans to take vengeance on those responsible for his exile and then come home...as Commander in Chief. The only man who can stop him is Gilbert "Gent" Gentilhomme, Salter's most loyal foot soldier, who launches a desperate mission to take out his mentor and save the United States from self destruction.
 
Infused with a staggering breadth of research in military tactics and steeped in the timeless themes of the honor and valor of men at war that distinguish all of Pressfield’s fiction, The Profession is that rare novel that informs and challenges the reader almost as much as it entertains.
reviews
      • premium: False
      • source: Los Angeles Times
      • content: "'The Profession' is a compelling mix of modern weaponry, modern communications, modern politics and the warrior's ancient ethos of honor and loyalty. It moves quickly and with deadly precision ... This is the modern world taken to its logical and frightening extreme."
      • premium: True
      • source: Publisher's Weekly
      • content:

        April 25, 2011
        Set in 2032, Pressfield's entertaining, thought-provoking thriller looks at an America past its apogee of moral power as it continues to face opponents whose barbarism threatens to make civilized conduct impossible. Old soldier James Salter, a Marine general fired because he dared to stand up for the people of a failed African state against the wishes of U.S. diplomats, refuses to fade away. Instead, Salter becomes the field commander of Force Insertion, a mercenary outfit that makes Blackwater look like mall rent-a-cops. Based in the Middle East, Salter wields the world's ninth largest (and perhaps best trained) army and the fifth largest economy. The old power structure maneuvers to neutralize Salter, but the American people—and his own troops—"think it's about time we had an American commander who wasn't afraid to kick the world in the ass." Evoking Roman history, in particular the friction between republic and empire, Pressfield (Gates of Fire) draws uncomfortable conclusions about the United States' current plight.

      • premium: True
      • source: Kirkus
      • content:

        April 1, 2011

        This military thriller, which begins in 2032, concerns "Gent" Gentilhomme, a mercenary whose honor and bravery are severely tested.

        America contracts its overseas combat to Force Insertion, the "military-contracting superfirm" run by James Salter, an ex-General who has the love and loyalty of men like Gent. A conventional military still operates America's aircraft, drones and satellites, but "the dirt belongs to the mercs." At issue—aside from oil—are the mutual respect and growing conflict between Salter and Gent as their diverging values become evident. Is there an "intersection of Necessity and Free Will," as Salter believes? Is there a line a mercenary cannot cross, as Gent believes? Can America's democracy continue to exist without gasoline costing $40 per gallon? These are fundamental questions in this dystopian thriller. Though a mercenary, Gent is a loyal American who wants to do right by his country. Powerful interests take exception to his actions, so he faces towering and mortal odds. Meanwhile, the men are tough and the women, including Gent's journalist wife, are sexy and tough. She has her own agenda, which is to write a story about Force Insertion with or without Gent's help. It's a recipe for marital strain. Pressfield's impressive research shows throughout this novel, whether in describing weapons systems and military transports or in placing the reader inside Dubai's 2,800-foot-tall Burj Khalifa. References to consolidated news firms such as Trump/CNN convey a sense of the not-too-distant future.

        A book that paints an all-too-plausible future in which America outsources its dirtiest jobs. Let's hope Pressfield's research tools didn't include a crystal ball.

        (COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

      • premium: True
      • source: Library Journal
      • content:

        January 1, 2011

        In his latest, Pressfield imagines a world in which private military forces have all the power, with world leaders vying for their services. When the commander of the largest force around decides to take control of the United States, his top commando opts to wipe out his commander. Pressfield dominates the military thriller genre, and his works are realistic enough that military colleges like West Point assign them. Buy wherever this genre is popular.

        Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

      • premium: True
      • source: Booklist
      • content:

        May 1, 2011
        Pressfields latest takes a terrifying look at the future of war from the point of view of a soldier fighting on the front. Twenty-plus years into the future, military conflicts are fought almost entirely by mercenary armies. Gilbert Gent Gentilhomme tells his story as he leads men into battle in hot spots around the world. His superior officer, General James Salter, was one of the top ranking generals in the U.S. when he was summarily fired by the president for an act that ended up saving thousands of lives. Now Salter finds there is a growing movement to have him run for the presidency. But he has a dark secret, and Gent is forced to test his beliefs and loyalty to a man he considers a father. Pressfields military thriller stands out from the crowd by speculating on what the next generation of warfare will be like and then dropping the reader right into the action. Clancy fans should give this a shot.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)

      • premium: True
      • source: Library Journal
      • content:

        June 1, 2011

        Pressfield made his name with novels about ancient Greece (Gates of Fire), then wrote about World War II in Killing Rommel. Now he writes of war in the near future. It is 2032, and the United States no longer has a military presence in the Middle East. It is up to large, well-equipped mercenary armies to maintain a fragile peace. A new war between Iran and Iraq explodes, and the world's economies collapse. There is fear that a fundamentalist Islamic regime will take over the region. Disgraced Marine general James Salter commands a large and devoted mercenary army. He has his own agenda as he takes on his enemies and attempts to redeem himself. VERDICT Some might think that the premise of mercenary armies is a little over-the-top, but is it? This military thriller is thought-provoking and unrelentingly grim. It is filled with multiple treacheries and brutal, depraved, and even barbaric actions from some who allege to be our friends. Purchase for demand. [See Prepub Alert, 12/6/10.]--Robert Conroy, Warren, MI

        Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

popularity
118
links
    • self:
        • href: https://api.overdrive.com/v1/collections/v1L1BWwAAAA2I/products/a4051646-76f1-4350-a537-a5a61c482b61/metadata
        • type: application/vnd.overdrive.api+json
id
a4051646-76f1-4350-a537-a5a61c482b61
starRating
3.6
images
    • cover:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/0111-1/{A4051646-76F1-4350-A537-A5A61C482B61}Img100.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • thumbnail:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/0111-1/{A4051646-76F1-4350-A537-A5A61C482B61}Img200.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover150Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/0111-1/A40/516/46/{A4051646-76F1-4350-A537-A5A61C482B61}Img150.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover300Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/0111-1/A40/516/46/{A4051646-76F1-4350-A537-A5A61C482B61}Img400.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
isPublicPerformanceAllowed
False
languages
      • code: en
      • name: English
subjects
      • value: Fiction
      • value: Literature
      • value: Science Fiction
publishDateText
06/14/2011
otherFormatIdentifiers
      • type: ISBN
      • value: 9780385528733
mediaType
eBook
shortDescription
Master storyteller and bestselling author Steven Pressfield returns with a stunning, chillingly plausible near-future thriller about the rise of a privately financed and global military industrial complex.
 
The year is 2032. The third Iran-Iraq war is over; the 11/11 dirty bomb attack on the port of Long Beach, California is receding into memory; Saudi Arabia has recently quelled a coup; Russians and Turks are clashing in the Caspian Basin; Iranian armored units, supported by the satellite and drone power of their Chinese allies, have emerged from their enclaves in Tehran and are sweeping south attempting to recapture the resource rich territory stolen from them, in their view, by Lukoil, BP, and ExxonMobil and their privately-funded armies.
Everywhere, military force is for hire. Oil companies, multi-national corporations and banks employ powerful, cutting-edge mercenary armies to control global chaos and protect their riches. Even nation states...
sortTitle
Profession A Novel
crossRefId
508416
subtitle
A Novel
publisher
Crown
bisacCodes
      • code: FIC028050
      • description: Fiction / Science Fiction / Military
      • code: FIC032000
      • description: Fiction / War & Military
      • code: FIC037000
      • description: Fiction / Political