In this easy-to-use reference, Naval Academy English professor Nancy Prothro Arbuthnot tells the stories behind sixty of the US Naval Academy's monuments and memorials. To personalise the memorials and the naval figures they honour, she has included letters, firsthand battle reports, Lucky Bag commentaries, award citations, and other documents.

Along with famous quotations, the book also presents poems and tributes written by midshipmen that explain how the memorials have inspired them, along with original poems by the author. More than 140 illustrations, including black-and-white photographs and reproductions of historic sketches, visually enrich the book.

In revealing the people and events behind the Academy's memorials, Arbuthnot provides models-or guiding lights-to help readers steer their own courses through life.