David R. Godine Publisher Inc Brotherhood : When West Point Rugby Went To War

“We’re better off for having these men among us.”—Wall Street JournalBefore 9/11, the rugby team at West Point learned to bond on a sports field.This is what happened when those 15 young men became leaders in war. Filled with drama, tragedy, and personal transformations, this is the story of a unique brotherhood.It is a story of American rugby and a story of the U.S. Army created through intimate portraits of men shaped by West Point’s motto: “Duty, Honor, Country.”Some of the players deployed to Afganistan and Iraq, some to Europe.Some became infantry, others became fliers. Some saw action, some did not. One gave his life on a street in Baghdad when his convoy was hit with an IED.Two died away from the battlefield but no less tragically. Journalist Martin Pengelly, a former rugby player himself, was given extraordinary access to tell this story, a story of a brutal sport and even more brutal warfare.