The United States Military Academy at West Point is one of America's oldest and most revered institutions. Founded in 1802, its first and only mission is to prepare young men-and, since 1976, young women-to be leaders of character for service as commissioned officers in the United States Army. Carved from Granite is the story of how West Point goes about producing military leaders of character. As scholar and Academy graduate Lance Betros shows, West Point's early history is interesting and colorful, but its history since then is far more relevant to the issues-and problems-that face the Academy today. Betros describes and assesses how well West Point has accomplished its mission- not hesitating to expose problems and challenge long-held assumptions. Here is the most authoritative history of the modern United States Military Academy written to date. LANCE BETROS is provost of the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.