The Complete Hammer's Slammers Vol 1

With a veteran's eye for the harsh and gritty details of war, David Drake depicts a futuristic analog of tank combat in his Hammer's Slammers fiction. The Slammers are neither cartoon heroes nor propaganda villains; rather they are competent professionals engaged in a deadly business. The inevitable conflicts between policy, necessity, and human nature make Drake's Slammers fiction instantly identifiable and utterly compelling. This is the first of a three volume set presenting for the first time the entire genre-defining Slammers series in a uniform trade paperback set, with new introductions by major SF figures and new afterwords by David Drake. Each volume will also include a Slammers story not collected in previous Slammer's books.

 "Fans of Drake's edgy stories of a mercenary tank regiment in a future not all that different from our present will rejoice [at the publication of] the entire series in three volumes. Drake, a Vietnam vet who served in the Blackhorse Regiment, uses prose as cold and hard as the metal alloy of a tank to portray the men and women of Hammer's Regiment. . . .  In his depiction of combat, Drake rivals Crane and Remarque."
—Publishers Weekly, reviewing the Night Shade hardcover edition

About the Author

David Drake was attending Duke University Law School when he was drafted. He served the next two years in the Army, spending 1970 as an enlisted interrogator with the 11th armored Cavalry in Viet Nam and Cambodia. Upon return he completed his law degree at Duke and was for eight years Assistant Town Attorney for Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He has been a full-time freelance writer since 1981. Besides the best-selling Hammer's Slammers series, his books for Baen include the popular Leary of the RCN series, with seven volumes so far: With the Lightnings; Lt. Leary, Commanding; The Far Side of the Stars; The Way to Glory; Some Golden Harbor, When the Tide Rises and In the Stormy Red Sky. His "Lord of the Isles" fantasy novels for Tor are genre best sellers. Among his other Baen titles are Ranks of Bronze, All the Way to the Gallows, Redliners, and many more.  

Cover Art by Kurt Miller

Trade
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

First printing, October 2009

Distributed by Simon & Schuster
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New York, NY 10020

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.

A Baen Books Original
Baen publishing Enterprises
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Riverdale, NY 10471
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Electronic version by WebWrights
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Printed in the United States of America

ISBN-13: 978-1-4391-3309-5
ISBN-10: 1-4391-3309-3

Copyright © 2009 by David Drake.
"Introduction" © 2006 by Gene Wolfe.
"Foreword: Becoming a Professional Writer by Way of Southeast Asia" © 1988 by David Drake. Originally published in The Butcher's Bill.
"Under the Hammer" © 1974 by David Drake. Originally published in Galaxy, November 1974.
"The Church of the Lord's Universe" © 1979 by David Drake. Originally published in Hammer's Slammers.
"But Loyal to His Own" © 1975 by David Drake. Originally published in Galaxy, October, 1975.
"Powerguns" © 1979 by David Drake. Originally published in Hammer's Slammers.
"Caught in the Crossfire" © 1978 by David Drake. Originally published in Chrysalis 2.
"Cultural Conflict" © 1979 by David Drake. Originally published in Destinies, January, 1979.
"The Bonding Auth" © 1979 by David Drake. Originally published in Hammer's Slammers.
"Hangman" © 1979 by David Drake. Originally published in Hammer's Slammers.
"Table of Organization and Equipment, Hammer's Regiment" © 1979 by David Drake. Originally published in Hammer's Slammers.
"Standing Down" © 1979 by David Drake. Originally published in Hammer's Slammers.
"Code-Name Feirefitz" © 1984 by David Drake. Originally published in Men of War.
"The Interrogation Team" © 1986 by David Drake. Originally published in There Will be War Vol. 5.
"The Tank Lords" © 1986 by David Drake. Originally published in Far Frontiers Vol. 6.
"Liberty Port" © 1987 by David Drake. Originally published in Free Lancers.
"Night March" © 1997 by David Drake. Originally published in The Tank Lords.
"The Immovable Object" © 1998 by David Drake. Originally published in Caught in the Crossfire.
"The Irresistible Force" © 1998 by David Drake. Originally published in The Butcher's Bill.
"A Death in Peacetime" © 2005 by David Drake.
"Afterword: Accidentally and by the Back Door" © 2005 by David Drake.

Baen Books By David Drake

The RCN Series

With the Lightnings
Lt. Leary, Commanding
The Far Side of the Stars
The Way to Glory
Some Golden Harbor
When the Tide Rises
In the Stormy Red Sky

Hammer's Slammers

The Tank Lords
Caught in the Crossfire
The Butcher's Bill
The Sharp End
Paying the Piper
The Complete Hammer's Slammers, Volume 1

Independent Novels
and Collections

The Reaches Trilogy
Seas of Venus
Foreign Legions, ed. by David Drake
Ranks of Bronze
Cross the Stars
The Dragon Lord
Birds of Prey
Northworld Trilogy
Redliners
Starliner
All the Way to the Gallows
Grimmer Than Hell
Other Times Than Peace
Patriots
The Undesired Princess and The Enchanted Bunny
(with L. Sprague de Camp)
Lest Darkness Fall and To Bring the Light
(with L. Sprague de Camp)

The General Series

Warlord with S.M. Stirling (omnibus)
Conqueror with S.M. Stirling (omnibus)
The Chosen with S.M. Stirling
The Reformer with S.M. Stirling
The Tyrant with Eric Flint

The Belisarius Series
with Eric Flint

An Oblique Approach
In the Heart of Darkness
Belisarius I: Thunder Before Dawn (omnibus)
Destiny's Shield
Fortune's Stroke
Belisarius II: Storm at Noontide (omnibus)
The Tide of Victory
The Dance of Time
Belisarius III: The Flames of Sunset (omnibus)

Edited by David Drake

The World Turned Upside Down
(with Jim Baen & Eric Flint)