Don't Tread on Me

My friend, Harry Crocker, III, has written a marvelous and detailed history of the American Military. Don't Tread on Me: A 400-Year History of America at War, from Indian Fighting to Terrorist Hunting was recently reviewed here by former Virginia Military Instutute Superintendent, Josiah Bunting. I am now working my way through Harry's book and will post a complete review of my own in the near future. For now, I recommend General Bunting's enlightening commentary. Here's the opening paragraph which mentions my favorite living historian (and author of the foreword to my latest book), Dr. James I. Robertson, Jr. :

"ACADEMIA TENDS TO IGNORE military history and condescend to those who write it. It occupies a fugitive place in the curriculum, offered as an 'elective,' if appropriate professorial expertise is available. The discipline's thin cohort of teachers is rarely allowed onto the tenure track, and even more rarely granted permanent appointments. There are a few exceptions. King's College, London, has an undergraduate concentration in military history; Oxford its Chichele Professorship in the History of War; the University of Calgary -- Calgary! -- a strong program; a few others. Occasionally a professor earns a reputation both for meticulous scholarship and compelling narrative, a reputation of such consequence that his university is proud to proclaim his presence on the faculty: James McPherson, late of Princeton; James Robertson at Virginia Tech. But these men are exceptions."