Documentary on the 1948 novel, "The Naked and the Dead," which depicts an unsparing look at war, the politics of power and the nature of heroism as it describes the harrowing jungle trek of an understrength intelligence and reconnaisance platoon seeking to break a stalemate on a fictitious Japanese-

Documentary on the 1948 novel, "The Naked and the Dead," which depicts an unsparing look at war, the politics of power and the nature of heroism as it describes the harrowing jungle trek of an understrength intelligence and reconnaisance platoon seeking to break a stalemate on a fictitious Japanese-held island. Combines dramatizations from the novel with interviews with author Norman Mailer. Filmmaker Oliver Stone discusses his take on the book and draws parallels to his combat exprience. Mailer's biographer Dr. Robert Lucid joins other literary experts to analyze the novel's enduring power.