Last in Their Class: Custer, Pickett and the Goats of West Point

Robbins, James S.

ISBN 10: 159403141X / ISBN 13: 9781594031410

Published by Encounter Books, New York, 2006

About this Item

8vo, 503 pp.

Seller Inventory # 080190

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Last in Their Class: Custer, Pickett and the Goats of West Point
• Publisher: Encounter Books, New York
• Publication Date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 159403141X
• ISBN 13: 9781594031410
• Binding: hardcover
• Illustrator: Illustrated
• Edition: 1st.
• Condition: Fine copy in fine dust jacket
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Seller catalogs:
  • American History

About this title

Synopsis

Today's Goat, the West Point cadet finishing at the bottom of his class, is temporary celebrity among his classmates. But in the 19th century, he was something of a cult figure. Custer's contemporaries at the Academy believed that the same spirit of adventure that led him to carouse at local taverns motivated his dramatic cavalry attacks in the Civil War and afterwards. And the same willingness to accept punishment from Academy authorities also sent George Pickett into the teeth of the Union guns at Gettsyburg. The story James S. Robbins tells goes from the beginnings of West Point through the carnage of the Civil War to the grassy bluffs over the Little Big Horn. The Goats he profiles tell us much about the soul of the American solider, his daring, imagination and desire to prove himself against high odds.

About the Author

James S. Robbins is a Professor of International Relations at the National Defense University in Washington, DC., and Senior Fellow in National Security Affairs at the American Foreign Policy Council. Dr. Robbins is a former Special Assistant in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and frequent commentator on national security issues for National Review, The Wall Street Journal, and other publications. He appears regularly on international television and radio including the BBC, Voice of America, FNC, MSNBC, CNBC, CNN/FN, among others. He holds a Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Medford, Mass. His research interests include terrorism and national security strategy, political theory, and military history.