Born in slavery, Charles Young (1864–1922) was the third black graduate of West Point, the first black U.S. military attaché, and the highest-ranking black officer in the Regular Army until his death. Unlike the two black graduates before him, Young went on to a long military career, eventually achieving the rank of colonel. After Young, racial intolerance closed the door to blacks at the academy, and forty-seven years passed before another African American graduated from West Point. Brian G. Shellum’s biography of Young’s years at West Point chronicles the enormous challenges that Young faced and provides a valuable window into life at West Point in the 1880s. Academic difficulties, hazing, and social ostracism dogged him throughout his academy years. He succeeded through a combination of focused intellect, hard work, and a sense of humor. By graduation, he had made white friends, and his motivation and determination had won him the grudging respect of many of his classmates and professors. Until now, scholars of African American and military history have neglected this important U.S. Army trailblazer. Young’s experiences at the U.S. Military Academy, his triumph over adversity, and his commitment to success forged the mold for his future achievements as an Army officer, even as the United States slipped further into the degradation and waste of racial intolerance. Charles Young (1864-1922) was the third African American West Point graduate and the only one from the nineteenth century who had a long military career (1889-1922). He was born in slavery, which his father fled to serve with Union forces in the Civil War, thereby acquiring, he believed, the discipline and the capital to live as a free man. An excellent student, Young determined to get the best education possible, though his family couldn't afford college. Placing second in his district in the West Point entrance examinations, he got the appointment when the first-ranked candidate resigned. Later graduate Shellum draws on his own West Point knowledge in vividly portraying the difficulties Young encountered, and he points up Young's determination and devotion to his country. Young, who died a colonel on active duty, was so thoroughly or deliberately forgotten by the outbreak of World War II that Congress and the War Department acted as if black officers had never been heard of. Shellum has put his keyboard to good use. Frieda Murray Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Skillfully sifting primary materials, Shellum puts together a picture of life at the Academy that combines what would have been the common experience of any cadet at the time (1884-1889), with the particular experiences that Young had, given the racist attitudes of the day. --New York Military Affairs Symposium Newsletter Through letters, journals, dairies, and official sources, Shellum does a fine job of allowing the reader to gain a glimpse of life at the academy during those post-Civil War years. He describes the strenuous everyday life of a cadet: academics, hazing, and the numerous duties each individual had to overcome to graduate. --Military Heritage (Shellum has) done a first rate job in mining the Military Academy archives (academic and discipline records, plus letters from classmates) to paint a full portrait of Young while at "the Point".--Tom Phillips, author of The Black Regulars Brian Shellum is currently a senior intelligence analyst with the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization with the U.S. Department of Defense. He worked as a historian at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) for the 12 years from 1994 to 2006. Prior to that he served in the U.S. Army as an armor officer and West European foreign area specialist before retiring in 1994. His military career highlights include various troop assignments with tank units, a tour as an army attaché in Bonn, Germany, Gulf War I service on the staff of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, and work as a senior intelligence analyst at DIA. He lived and studied for eleven years in Germany, and speaks fluent German. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, holds an MS degree from Campbell University, and studied at the University in Bonn.  Used Book in Good Condition