M*A*S*H: A Novel About Three Army Doctors, the original novel that inspired the M*A*S*H movie and TV series, was written by Richard Hooker, himself a former military surgeon, and was about a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in South Korean during the Korean War. It was originally published in 1968, and several sequels followed after the success of the TV series. William E. Butterworth] (W.E.B. Griffin) is credited as co-author on most of the sequels, but may have actually ghostwritten them.