Prologue: The summons of the trumpet
The gentle art of scalping
Wolfe's triumph and Pontiac's rebellion
Forged in battle : from 1776 to Valley Forge
The world turned upside down
The Founders' foreign entanglements
Military holiday in Mexico
"War is cruelty, you cannot refine it"
"War means fighting and fighting means killing"
"For every Southern boy-it's still not yet two o'clock on that July afternoon in 1863"
"The satisfaction that proceeds from the consciousness of duty faithfully performed"
"But westward, look! The land is bright"
"Half devil and half child"
"Come on, you sons of bitches! Do you want to live forever?"
A world made safe for war
"Another Marine reporting for duty, sir. I've spent my time in hell."
"Retreat, hell-we're just attacking in another direction"
The long twilight struggle
Epilogue: "Go tell the Spartans"