Description
When this book first appeared in 1972, Karsten, a former naval officer, was taken to task for its portrayal of the Naval Academy and the officer corps. Although his conclusions riled more than a few senior officers, no one denied the significance of the study, and it was named Best Book of the Year by Phi Alpha Theta, the national history honorary society. The work focuses on the period after the Civil War when the United States emerged as a power to be reckoned with and its navy developed into a professional fighting force. This revelatory portrait of the officer corps in the late 19th and early 20th centuries has remained an important reference work for more than thirty-five years. This new edition includes a new preface and foreword.
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This is a reprint of the 1972 publication, presented here with a new preface and foreword. The US Navy was by no means new after the close of the Civil War, but the Naval Academy was. The first two generations to graduate were keenly aware of their place and potential in a force that was being recast from defense to gunboat diplomacy. Karsten (history, U. of Pittsburgh) takes a close look at what brought these men to Annapolis and what they took from it. At the same time he evaluates how much they and those who commanded them knew about the potential of the US Navy as a professional fighting force and the US as a world power. Particularly interesting is Karsten's assessment of the naval mind, and how it figured in such situations as the war with Spain and the Philippines, the impact of technical changes, and the changes in the concept of mission. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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