Annapolis Autumn: Life, Death and Literature at the US Naval Academy

(Hardback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

What really goes on behind the Wall that surrounds the U.S. Naval Academy What are all those midshipmen, future officers in the U.S. Naval and Marine Corps and leaders of American society, thinking as they stand in neat ranks at the parades that tourists love What are their professors actually educating them to do In Annapolis Autumn, Bruce Fleming, professor of English for nearly two decades at the Academy and prize-winning author, captures the sights, sounds, colours, and conversations of this tradition-steeped institution. In classes the cadets learn how to assemble guns, control armoured vehicles, man battleships, and kill other human beings. Nothing is ever less than "outstanding, Sir!" In English class, however, Fleming introduces his students to nuance and subtext, to the gap poets of World War 1, and to the idea that not every piece of literature is designed to be "motivational." Sharing stories from his twenty years at the Academy, Fleming explores questions about teaching, the labels of "liberal" versus "conservative", and the ultimate purpose of higher education and issues made all the more gripping at a time when many of his students will graduate from the classroom to the battlefield.

Reviews

"Fleming keeps company with several of the masters of modern literature."
The Baltimore Sun

"Always literate, often fascinating."
The Village Voice

Author Bio

Bruce Fleming is a tenured professor of English at the United States Naval Academy. A winner of the O. Henry Award his writing has appeared in the Village Voice, the Washington Post, the Antioch Review, and the Chronicle of Higher Education.