The Army

Engineer: The Professional Bulletin for Army Engineers, July, 2002 by Larry D. Dr. Roberts

The Army, Brigadier General Harold W. Nelson, Editor in Chief. The Army Historical Foundation/Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, Inc; Arlington, Virginia, 2001, 352 pages, 600 illustrations.

The Army is a richly illustrated historical overview of the United States Army prepared by the Army Historical Foundation, Its authors are largely retired senior military officers, many with a background in published military history. The volume covers such topics as the role of the Army in nation-building, the history of the Medal of Honor and other military decorations, the Army Schools, and the role of the Reserve Components in the wars of the nation. As such, The Army, is not an illustrated history of the Army, but a historical overview of some aspects of the Army and its more than 200 years of service to the United States.

The volume has an introductory article by serving Army Chief of Staff, General Eric K. Shinseki, and a concluding article by Lieutenant Colonel Clayton R. Newell, U.S. Army, Retired. The former article deals with the Army Vision and its association with both the Army of yesterday and the Army of the future. The latter article documents some of the emerging technology that the Army is seeking to bring to the battlefield. These bookend articles place the historical material into the context of the Army today and the future of the service in the years ahead.

One of the outstanding features of The Army is the inclusion of 600 photographs, reproductions of military art, and other illustrations. The art is by such established military artists as Mort Kunstler, Don Troiani, Don Stivers, and Dale Gallon. The artwork by these and other artists adds a colorful and dramatic aspect to the more common black and white photographs of the nineteenth and twentieth century Army that many readers are familiar with. The reproductions of this military art are almost worth the price of the book alone.

Although The Army is written by those with the requisite historical training to produce an authoritative work, the book does suffer from an occasional error in accuracy. However, the errors in the text do not detract from the visual value of the volume and the overall story the authors and editors convey. The Army would make an excellent addition to the bookshelves of the general reader or history buff. Those wanting more depth to the areas covered in this volume can start with the professional reading materials noted in the Suggested Reading portion.

Dr. Larry D. Roberts is the U.S. Army Engineer School historian at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.

Note From the Publisher: Purchasing The Army not only will be of interest to readers but also will directly benefit the Army Historical Foundation, which receives a royalty on each book sold. The Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Army history and traditions. It directly supports the historical programs of the Army and is an integral part in the building of a national Army museum,

The Army can be ordered directly from the Army Historical Foundation (703-522-7901 or http://www.armyhistoryfnd.org/). It is also available through warehouse clubs, local bookstores, and online. Visit the Foundation's Web site for more information (http://www.hlla.com).