West Point: The First 200 Years Book

With contributions from Stephen Ambrose ï William F. Buckley, Jr. ï David Halberstam ï Arthur Miller ï George Plimpton ï Tom Wicker and other historians and writers Introduction by General H. Norman Schwarzkopf The year 2002 marks the bicentennial of the United States Military Academy at West Point. More than any other institution's, the history of West Point is the story of America. Now commemorating this historic milestone is this authoritative publication of the Academy's Association of Graduates. Featured here is one of the greatest collections ever of essays by world-renowned historians and writers, plus 400 illustrations, nearly half in full color-including famous and rarely seen paintings-historic letters from cadets, treasured athletic memorabilia, and other artifacts. WEST POINT On the Fourth of July in the year 1802, a handful of cadets gathered on the tall banks of the Hudson River to celebrate the formal opening of the United States Military Academy at West Point. At the time, two instructors with few books taught the rudiments of military engineering in a building no larger than a country schoolhouse. From these inauspicious beginnings rose a national citadel that has produced America's greatest military leaders and two presidents (three, if you count the Confederacy's Jefferson Davis). This is the story of "The Point," in the throes of war and the lull of peace, in its glory days and years of challenge. Inside WEST POINT you'll relive: * The growth years under Superintendent Sylvanus Thayer, who after taking office in 1817 rescued West Point from the brink of mutiny and rebuilt it into a model for military academies everywhere * The Golden Age in the years before the Civil War, when the Academy educated a remarkable group of leaders that included Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, James Longstreet, George McClellan, George Pickett, and William T. Sherman * The Great War and after, when Superintendent Douglas MacArthur launched a short-lived effort to reform the Academy, pleading "How long are we going on preparing for the War of 1812?" * World War II, when training on horseback finally gave way to drills on motorized vehicles, and the teaching of practical tactics finally replaced theory * The Korea and Vietnam eras, when costly conflicts forced the institution through painful but necessary transitions * The playing field as battlefield, when from 1944 to 1946 Red Blaik coached Army to three consecutive football championships, ably assisted by "Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside," Doc Blanchard and Glen Davis. You'll read prize-winning authors like Arthur Miller on his controversy-filled appearance at Vietnam-era West Point; George Plimpton on the boyhood memories of his great-grandfather, General Adelbert Ames, a man who received the Congressional Medal of Honor after First Bull Run; Stephen E. Ambrose on Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Class of 1915, which produced 60 WW II generals; David Halberstam on the unique hunger that drives West Point students; and William F. Buckley, Jr., on the question that hovers over everything the Academy stands for: "Is America worth it?" WEST POINT is the ultimate salute to an institution that represents both America's belief in itself and its willingness to fight to defend that belief.Read More