Book description
After graduating from West Point in 1892, Charles Pelot Summerall
(1867--1955) launched a distinguished military career, fighting
Filipino insurgents in 1899 and Boxers in China in 1900. His
remarkable service included brigade, division, and corps commands in
World War I; duty as chief of staff of the U. S. Army from 1926 to
1930; and presidency of the Citadel for twenty years, where he was
instrumental in establishing the school's national reputation.
Previously available only in the Citadel's archives, Summerall's
memoir offers an eyewitness account of a formative period in U. S.
Army history. Edited and annotated by Timothy K. Nenninger, the memoir
documents critical moments in American military history and details
Summerall's personal life, from his impoverished childhood in Florida
to his retirement from the Citadel in 1953. From the perspective of
both a soldier and a general, Summerall describes how the very nature
of war changed irrevocably during his lifetime.
""This is a fascinating account of a life that saw the
U. S. Army's transition from a frontier constabulary to a powerful
armed force on the world stage."--The Past in Review" --
Timothy K. Nenninger is chief of the Textual Records reference
staff at the U. S. National Archives and Records Administration.
