Book excerpt: "On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the U.S. Naval Academy, the Naval Institute Press takes pleasure in presenting a new edition of its now-classic illustrated history of the Academy. First published in 1979, the book has been updated to include the revolutionary changes of the 1980s and the challenges of the early-to-mid-1990s at an institution steeped in tradition yet adapting to change. This second edition has been prepared by Thomas J. Cutler, a recently retired naval officer and historian who taught at the Academy during the very years he writes about. His new chapters pick up where those of the original author, former Academy history professor Jack Sweetman, left off." "Certain to remain a favorite of Annapolis graduates, their families and friends, naval buffs, and those eager to learn about life at the Academy, this handsome book includes more than 200 photographs, paintings, and drawings covering all fifteen decades of the Academy's colorful history. It is a stirring story filled with entertaining anecdotes as well as authoritative accounts of the Academy's evolution from its modest beginnings as a naval training school in an unwanted army fort to a 300-acre showcase facility that has become one of the nation's leading baccalaureate institutions."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved