“The unlikely story of Lea’s attempts to train a cadre of soldiers in American Chinatowns who would return to their homeland to make it a modern world power.” —Pacific Historical Review As a five-feet-three-inch hunchback who weighed about 100 pounds, Homer Lea (1876–1912), was an unlikely candidate for life on the battlefield, yet he became a world-renowned military hero. Homer Lea: American Soldier of Fortune paints a revealing portrait of a diminutive yet determined man who never earned his valor on the field of battle, but left an indelible mark on his times. Lawrence M. Kaplan draws from extensive research to illuminate the life of a “man of mystery,” while also yielding a clearer understanding of the early twentieth-century Chinese underground reform and revolutionary movements. Lea’s career began in the inner circles of a powerful Chinese movement in San Francisco that led him to a generalship during the Boxer Rebellion. Fixated with commanding his own Chinese army, Lea’s inflated aspirations were almost always dashed by reality. Although he never achieved the leadership role for which he strived, he became a trusted advisor to revolutionary leader Dr. Sun Yat-sen during the 1911 revolution that overthrew the Manchu Dynasty. As an author, Lea garnered fame for two books on geopolitics: The Valor of Ignorance, which examined weaknesses in the American defenses and included dire warnings of an impending Japanese-American war, and The Day of the Saxon, which predicted the decline of the British Empire. More than a character study, this biography provides insight into the establishment and execution of underground reform and revolutionary movements within US immigrant communities and in southern China, as well as early twentieth-century geopolitical thought.

Army Life in the West (1862-1865), is the memoir of Charles A. Curtis, who served as a lieutenant with the 5th United States Infantry Regiment in New Mexico and Arizona during the Civil War. The memoir was originally published as a 53 article series in the Argus and Patriot newspaper of Montpelier, Vermont, from 1877-1880, entitled, "An Original Sketch, Army Life in the West." The articles were based on extensive journals Curtis kept. His intent was to educate his readers about everyday details of army life: "People know very little of how the army lives, and what it does. If I can enlighten even a few readers, I shall think I have done a good work." The articles are well written and offer rich insights into the life of an army officer stationed in the southwest, where the army played a critical role in protecting frontier settlers from hostile Indians. Curtis' memoir, which includes several accounts of fighting with Navajo and Apache Indians, also reads like a travel guide. He devoted considerable attention to the geography, geology, flora, fauna, architecture and social life of his surroundings, and as such, provided valuable insights into the various peoples, regions and cultures of New Mexico and Arizona.