Understanding West Point: What Cadets Must Do at West Point, and Why

by Norman Thomas Remick

UNDERSTANDING WEST POINT is author Norman Thomas Remick's successor to his pioneering book, Mr. Jefferson's The Real Story Behind West Point , which is the one and only work that identifies and proves the heretofore secret Thomas Jefferson-West Point connection. This book, which also includes that pioneering information, gives the penetrating results of the ten year search by Norman Thomas Remick, four years at West Point that tells you the way it is inside those fabled gray granite walls, and six years inside the research halls of libraries to uncover and decipher the code of archival facts that have brought to light a special historic relationship between Thomas Jefferson and West Point. Remick also details how this historic college produces leaders, why it does so the way it does, why America has a West Point to produce Officers when there are easier and cheaper ways to do so, and why Thomas Jefferson founded West Point in the first place. The secret behind why Jefferson founded West Point informs the contemporary controversy over whether America still needs a West Point at a cost of hundreds of millions per year in taxpayer dollars. The book is not only unique in breaking new historical ground but it is also unique in its innovative presentation of true and accurate history. By employing creative nonfiction and the choice of a dramatic dialogue as narrative vehicle, the author gives us something here that is quite different and refreshing as he takes us on a journey through history and philosophy that winds its way from Ancient times to post American Revolution times to show us how the great moral stories of the world shaped Thomas Jefferson, and in turn, shaped America and West Point. The book is also an education, a special kind of education. Because the journey through history uses as its sources the same books Thomas Jefferson himself read that are in his famous library, when you read this book you are learning the same things that he learned. By cleverly converting the difficult history and philosophy contained in Jefferson's books into ordinary language and modern American vernacular, and weaving together hundreds of wonderful poems, anecdotes, and unusual scenarios, Remick has produced a timeless gem on West Point and Thomas Jefferson and leadership and character that will be an enjoyable and engaging and educational experience for years to come for people of all ages and educational levels, not just scholars. As an added Those who cannot visit West Point will enjoy the sixteen pages that the author has nicely blended into the storyline, including 24 full color pictures, that takes you on a virtual tour of West Point, the place.

432 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006