When Diplomacy Fails — Eric Flint

Grunts, Tommies, Gropos, Dogfaces. Whatever you call them, these are the men, women, and aliens who fight the wars the politicians come up with.Join nine outstanding authors as they explore the ever and never changing role of the soldier in ISFiC Press's latest collection of short stories.In these stories, selected by Eric Flint and Mike Resnick, brave veterans and the rankest recruits face, not only expected threats such as gunfire and bombs, but dragons, man-tanks and cyborg soldiers and, not the least threat, the incompetents and would-be heroes that every cause attracts (and kills). Beginning with the 19th-century poem by Rudyard Kipling, honoring those who really fight their country's wars to the United States Navy of 1632 to the star navies of the future, these stories highlight the soldier's view of war and command.Each story included develops the human side of the soldiers. From a not-quite-human superweapon to balloon-traveling mercenaries, each character shows the human side of war and its cost -- the obvious, physical wounds and the not-so-obvious mental ones. From experienced veterans who expect to win every battle to those who can't win anything, they are all here.