Octavo, black cloth (hardcover), xv, 320 pp. Fine, in a Very Good dust jacket with edgewear. ÒHere is a dramatic account of one of the most important trials in American history, the 1881 court martial of Johnson Whittaker, a black cadet at West Point. Born a slave, Whittaker was the third black to enter West Point. Like his two predecessors, he was completely ostracized for three years...One morning Whittaker didn't show up for drill. He was found in his room, unconscious, tied tightly to the bed, with blood streaming from his head...Whittaker was accused of faking the crime to get sympathy from the public and his professors. A court inquiry followed and, on the flimsiest of evidence, Whittaker was found guilty. The public and pres responded with outrage. At the time America was debating the position of the freed black slaves..John Marszalek has researched the story with great thoroughness and his account of Whittaker's ordeal is poignant and dramatic. Subtitling his book, A Black Man in America, Marszalek uses the Whittaker case to study one black man in depth, analyzing his interaction with the American army, American justice and, by extension, American society.Ó

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