Other editions of book New Windmills: A Separate Peace

Gene was a lonely, introverted intellectual. Phineas was a handsome, taunting, daredevil athlete. What happened between them at school one summer during the early years of World War II is the subject of A Separate Peace. A great bestseller for over twenty years, it is one of the most starkly moving parables ever written of the dark forces that brood over the tortured world of adolescence.

Even though the war had thrown a shroud over the outside world, Phineas and Gene remained untouched by it. In the summer of '42, the Devon school was a lot like Camelot, fairly bursting with adventure and promise. As much as Gene resisted it, there had been something eternal and unforgettable about that summer. And by the time he understood what life without Phineas could be-it was too late.

This was made into a film in 1972 -- A Separate Peace, the novel, written by John Knowles, set in the United States, was written in 1959. Based on his earlier short story "Phineas", it was Knowles' first published novel and became his best-known work. A story about boys in a private school... the competition, the loyal, the disloyalty. A beautifully written book.

Set at a boys' boarding school in New England during the early years of World War II, "A Separate Peace" is a harrowing and luminous parable of the dark side of adolescence. Gene is a lonely, introverted intellectual. Phineas is a handsome, taunting, daredevil athlete. What happens between the two friends one summer, like the war itself, banishes the innocence of these boys and their world. A bestseller for more than thirty years, "A Separate Peace" is John Knowles's crowning achievement and an undisputed American classic.