A Sense of Honor — James Webb

Former Secretary of the Navy, Navy Cross recipient, and Marine officer James Webb lit the fires of controversy with this startling inside look at life at the U.S. Naval Academy when A Sense of Honor was first published in 1981. Some of his fellow Academy graduates attacked it as exaggerated and extreme, but Webb's portrayal of a gung-ho first class-man's campaign to shepherd and unprepared plebe through the academy's complex and unforgiving ethos was hailed as a “considerable achievement” by the New York Times and “a remarkable moral statement” by the Boston Globe. This novel brilliantly captures the nation's military, political, and moral dilemmas and their effects on the hidebound traditions of the Naval Academy. It stands as testament to this whose devotion to duty, honor, and country is only strengthened by their willingness to question it.