Leaders of Men - by Anne Cipriano Venzon (Paperback)

About the Book

Author Anne Cipriano Venzon selected ten men whose skills and leadership clearly contributed to the formation of the ethos, which became the modern Marine Corps. Based on extensive research, most of it in little-used primary documents, the biographies of the ten men featured in Leaders of Men look both at the men and their role in various engagements and events. From Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and the search for the Alabama during the Civil War to the Battle of Belleau Wood and "peacekeeping" missions in China in the 1920s, the examination of these careers will give readers a better understanding of what it means to be a Marine.

Book Synopsis

What was it that transformed the United States Marine Corps from a quasi-constabulary in 1861 to one of the world's elite fighting forces by 1918? As there was nothing terribly unusual about the Corps' organization or bureaucracy, the only conclusion left is that it must have been its extraordinary people. The Civil War attracted to the USMC a handful of young men who were natural leaders. These men then trained another cohort of talented, tenacious leaders, who, in turn, molded the men who led the Marine Corps into the twentieth century.

Many of their names have faded in the brighter lights of the campaigns in the Pacific, Korea, and Vietnam, but without men like Huntington, Cochrane, and Myers, there wouldn't have been Puller, Edson, or Pace in later years. Author Anne Cipriano Venzon selected ten men whose skills and leadership clearly contributed to the formation of the ethos, which became the modern Marine Corps. By examining each man's strengths and weaknesses, the continuum of leadership from the earliest days of the Corps becomes very clear for the reader.

Based on extensive research, most of it in little-used primary documents, the biographies of the ten men featured in Leaders of Men look both at the men and their role in various engagements and events. From Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and the search for the Alabama during the Civil War to the Battle of Belleau Wood and "peacekeeping" missions in China in the 1920s, the examination of these careers will give readers a better understanding of what it means to be a Marine.

Review Quotes

A historian, Venzon has carefully crafted Leaders of Men into a fascinating look into a little-known time period in American history; and one in which the Marine Corps came of age....These are men who fought in those many faraway places and accomplished the feats that enabled the Small Wars Manual to be written. Author Anne Cipriano Venzon has written a book that gives the reader a unique look into the personalities of a few who made the Corps and, at the same time, American history.--. "Leatherneck"

Marine Corps historian Venzon relates the history of the USMC from 1861 to the 1920's through the careers of ten carefully selected men whose careers span this time period. These men, through their leadership and skills embody the ethos of the modern Marine Corps, what every Marine should attain to. Most of the ten men are readily familiar - Robert Huntington, Joseph Pendleton and Smedley Darlington Butler have had their share od articles and books but others such as Henry Clay Cochrane, John Twiggs Myers and George Cyrus Thorpe are introduced to the reader for the first time. A good case in point was the career of Myers, who was the hero of the siege of Peking during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. He came form a military family, being the grandson of Revolutionary War General John Twiggs, sometimes called the "Savior of Georgia". Of his two sons, one was a Marine major killed in Mexico in 1847 and the other a career army officer who ended his long life as a Confederate Major General in 1862. Myers' father, Abraham, was a West Point graduate with combat service from 1837 through the end of the Civil War. Well researched using little used or even known primary documents, the book goes far towards a better understanding of what it means to be a Marine.-- "The Past In Review"

The text straightforwardly outlines the experiences and contributions of its subjects and is clearly written.-- "American Reference Books Annual"

About the Author

Anne Cipriano Venzon earned her doctorate in history from Princeton University. She works as a consultant and an independent historian. She is the author of a number of books including From Whaleboats to Amphibious Warfare and General Smedley Darlington Butler: Letters of a Leatherneck.