Robert A. Heinlein - "Starship Troopers." Paperback as description

"I always get the shakes before a drop. I've had the injections of course. It stands to reason I can't rally be afraid."

Through the ages the infantryman has borne the brunt of the fighting.  5,000 years in the future the Mobile Infantryman carries on the tradition.

"The ship's psychiatrist tells me it isn't fear.  It's just the trembling of an eager race horse in the starting gate."

The Mobile Infantryman's weapons and armour are masterpieces of electronic and engineering techniques.  But the act of dying remains the same. A messy, bloody business.

"It's better after you unload.  Until you do you sit there in total darkness, wrapped like a mummy against the accelerations, barely able to breathe.  You know that if the ship gets hit before they fire you, you haven't got a prayer, you'll just die there, unable to move, helpless."

A 1961 Four Square paperback in  very good  condition based on the Hancer Standard.