Major Barbara (Penguin Classics) Paperback – May 1, 2001

Major Barbara is a key player in her local chapter of the Salvation Army, but she really has a lot to deal with as the daughter of a major arms manufacturer and billionaire. Can she save the soul of her wayward father, as well as the other souls under her care? Or will her father show her that there is another way to life, even in a factory of death? At what price is salvation?

A great play, but if Barbara had written it instead of George, I think it would have ended a bit differently!

The Penguin Classics '01 paperback edition is laden with typographic errors. The spacing between individual letters is inconsistent on numerous occasions, which can be rather jarring to the eyes when "it" becomes "i t" whereas the rest of the line is densely packed. The typesetter even got the most brilliant idea by turning "flourish" into "∫'tourish". Although I enjoyed reading the play, my experience was marred by these misprints.

Great book. very pleased with this transaction

I brought this for my required reading in an upper level Economics course and I was thoroughly surprised by how much I actually enjoyed reading it. It's a quick and easy read with a lot of humor. There will be clear favorites among the characters although some of them you will ask yourself why you like them so much. On paper Undershaft is more of an antagonist than anything else but you will find yourself liking him anyways. All in all the themes and issues presented by Shaw's characters are done brilliantly and it's worth more than just one read.

Satire, subtle (and not so subtle) digs, sharp wit and a great plotComedy gold.

The title states that it has the Preface but the preface for Maor Barber is over 50 pages long and this book only had about 9 pages of the preface. It has the whole play but if your taking a class that requires you to read the preface you will be screwed like I was.

"Major Barbara" is a morality tale of a young woman, a Major in the Salvation Army, who finds her work supported by an arms dealer. Surprisingly, the arms dealer in the play, Undershaft, is witty, urbane, generous, industrious, and ruthless. He has some of the same rationalizations for what he does that contemporary arms dealers still use. He does not kill anyone. He does not start wars. He is in business. He creates jobs. If he did not do it, someone else would. Everyone does it, including governments. Poverty is the crime. Industry, including making armaaments, is the cure.So, not much has changed. The world of the play is a complex web of moral ambiguity, hiding the most murderous of crimes. Or, are they really crimes at all? You be the judge.This is a play worth reading. But if you are interested in the morals, or lack of them, in gun-running, and don't like reading plays, try "Lord of War," the film with Nicholas Cage.