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Reviews
Throughout history every great nation has kept in its treasure-chest an academy for advanced learning and military training. Steven Ambrose's history leaves the reader with a greater understanding of the relationship between our treasure, West Point, and the society it supports.
There have been many other histories of West Point, but this is the best... From this excellent book every American will find interest and take pride in this truly national institution that has played so great a part in the building of the country.
The title of this first-rate account of the United States Military Academy is drawn from the Academy's motto... [Ambrose] follows the long gray line through history, skillfully re-creating the administrations of West Point's outstanding superintendents (Sylvanus Thayer and Douglas MacArthur), telling some amusing anecdotes about cadets 'who simply refused to conform to the West Point mold' (James McNeill Whistler and Edgar Allan Poe).
The conception of West Point, as Ambrose makes clear in his short history of the Military Academy, was immaculately Jeffersonian. It was a school to train engineers—that most liberal, nonaristocratic, and socially useful branch of the military service—not in order to create a corps d'élite but to provide the reservoir of military expertise which was needed if the militia ideal were to become a practical reality... Ambrose has told this story clearly and well; he is at his best in tying it to the larger context of American politics, social attitudes, and higher education.
A welcome addition to the growing literature on military education. Ambrose covers the whole history of West Point, from the first feeble beginnings under President Jefferson down to the present. He has carefully examined both the published and unpublished sources and has rounded out the basic data with numerous interviews.
About
Book Details
Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
6
x 9
Pages
400
ISBN
9780801862939
Table of Contents
Foreword
Introduction
Chapter 1. The Beginning
Chapter 2. The Foundling
Chapter 3. Alden Partridge
Chapter 4. Sylvanus Thayer
Chapter 5. Thayer's Curriculum and Faculty
Chapter 6. The Jacksonians and the
Foreword
Introduction
Chapter 1. The Beginning
Chapter 2. The Foundling
Chapter 3. Alden Partridge
Chapter 4. Sylvanus Thayer
Chapter 5. Thayer's Curriculum and Faculty
Chapter 6. The Jacksonians and the Academy
Chapter 7. The Golden Age, 1840–1860
Chapter 8. Cadet Life
Chapter 9. Civil War
Chapter 10. Stagnation
Chapter 11. Hazing and the Negro Cadets
Chapter 12. From Cuba To France
Chapter 13. Douglas MacArthur
Chapter 14. Implementing The MacArthur Reforms
Chapter 15. Football
Chapter 16. The Modern Academy
Afterword
Bibliography
Index
Illustrations
