Wikipedia:Today's featured article/May 1, 2006

Starship Troopers is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein published in 1959. The first-person narrative is about a young soldier named Juan Rico and his exploits in the Mobile Infantry, a futuristic military unit equipped with powered armor. Rico's military career progresses from recruit to non-commissioned officer and finally to officer against the backdrop of an interstellar war between mankind and an insectoid species known as "The Bugs". Through Rico's eyes, Heinlein examines moral and philosophical aspects of capital punishment, juvenile delinquency, civic virtue, and necessity of war. Starship Troopers won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1960 and helped create a sub-genre of literature known as military science fiction. Starship Troopers has been adapted into several films and games, most famously the 1997 film by Paul Verhoeven. The novel has attracted controversy and criticism of its social and political themes, which some critics believe are militaristic. (continued...)