I recently developed an interest in getting an understanding of US Naval history. Karsten's book was recommended by my daughter's college history professor for a first read and I was not disappointed. Karsten covers a good deal of the makeup of the officer corps from pre-civil war through the formation of the modern navy in 1882 and into the turn-of-the-century. In context it was appropriate but I was disappointed in his fast brush through of history from the turn-of-the-century through the Nixon years in the last chapter (!). Also, while it was in keeping with Karsten's analysis in the preceeding chapters, his concluding remarks were still surprisingly direct against giving the Navy (or other branches of the armed service) free reign in appropriations. His point was well put that the political branch of our government and its citizenry has a duty to question in detail what the militarists are asking for rather than following after their (understandible) hyperbole. Overall, a good book!

This is a very stimulating book dealing with a realm of history that I never really thought of previously. Iniatially, I picked this title up becauseof the rare information on the great whig martyr Algernon Sidney, but I was pleased to find the entire volume well worth my while. I was especially fond of the authors discussion of changing ideological cultures and the popularity or lack thereof of statist and antistatist heroes.