A CIVIL WAR - John Feinstein The 1996 season for both Army and Navy. The BUCPOWER.COM review John Feinstein is one of the best writers in the sports world today. His two books on the PGA Tour, A Good Walk Spoiled and The Majors are essential reading, and this book on the Army v Navy series is in the same league. When you read what the players at these two academies have to go through just to be eligible to play in this annual game, you realise just how easy a life every other college athlete actually has. If you come from, or know someone from a military background, then you will already be aware of how non 9-5 the career is. For anyone else, it is a serious eye-opener for what these people endure in the name of a career. Other reviews Although neither Army nor Navy is a college football power anymore, their annual rivalry still attracts national attention, and the game between the two service academies is the most important contest for both schools every season. In chronicling the 1995 game (the 96th meeting between the two teams), Feinstein (A Good Walk Spoiled) provides readers with a comprehensive backdrop to the game by recounting the events leading up to Army vs. Navy. Given almost unlimited access to the players and coaches, Feinstein does a superb job of capturing the emotional and physical impact the long season has on the team members of both sides, while also giving a taste of what life is like at Annapolis and West Point. Feinstein focuses his story by concentrating on a number of players at the two schools, providing brief backgrounds and their reasons for attending the academies. Among the players featured are Army's Jim Cantelupe and the offensive linemen nicknamed "The Fat Men," as well as Navy's Andrew Thompson and Chris McCoy. Providing an extra touch of drama is the fact that 1995 was the last year of Army coach Bob Sutton's contract, and his future at the school would be determined by the Cadets' performance in the Navy game. It is to Feinstein's credit that, although the outcome is already in the history books, he builds a sense of excitement and anticipation throughout the book about what would happen in the contest. (Army won.) Publishers' Weekly What you thought of it Add your comments on this book If you want to add a review for this book or any other book, please e-mail us at the contact address shown on the front page of BUCPOWER.COM.