Title: Carved from granite
Description: The United States Military Academy at West Point is one of America's oldest and most revered institutions. Founded in 1802, its first mission is to prepare young men and, since 1976, young women to be leaders of character for service as commissioned officers in the United States Army. West Point's success in accomplishing that mission has secured its reputation as the foremost leadership-development institution in the world. An Academy promotional poster says "At West Point, much of the history we teach was made by people we taught." Carved from Granite is the story of how West Point goes about producing military leaders of character. An opening chapter on the Academy's nineteenth-century history provides context for the topic of each subsequent chapter. As scholar and Academy graduate Lance Betros shows, West Point's early history is interesting and colorful, but its history since then is far more relevant to issues and problems that face the Academy today. Drawing from oral histories, archival sources, and his experiences as a cadet and, later, a faculty member, Betros describes and assesses how well West Point has accomplished its mission. And, while West Point is an impressive institution in many ways, Betros does not hesitate to expose problems and challenge long-held assumptions. In a concluding chapter both subjective and interpretive, the author offers his prescriptions for improving the institution, focusing particularly on the areas of governance, admissions, and intercollegiate athletics. This book is the most authoritative history of the modern United States Military Academy written to date.
Subjects: Military education, United States Military Academy, Leadership, Study and teaching (Higher), History
Places: United States
Time periods: 20th century, 21st century