DON'T SETTLE FOR SECOND: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF CORNELIUS C. SMITH. de Smith, Cornelius C., Jr. Foreword by Sen. Barry Goldwater - 1977

San Rafael, California: Presidio, 1977. 229 pp, large 8vo (9 1/4" H). B&w photographs, drawings (by the author). "Cornelius Cole Smith was above all else a professional soldier. His army career spanned thirty turbulent years, April 9, 1890 to April 9, 1920. He witnessed the transformation of the United States from a second-class military power prior to the Spanish-American War to the most powerful nation on earth after World War I. He participated in the final Indian campaigns, the brutal conquest of the Moros on the Philippine Islands and the birth pangs of the American Labor Movement. This varied career took 'Corney' Smith from the sun-baked deserts of Arizona to the bone-chilling plains of the Dakotas, from the tropical jungles of Mindano to the beautiful parks of the Sierra Nevada, and from fever-ridden camps in Tampa to a diplomatic post in Bogota. Regardless of the surroundings, he brought the same diligence and professionalism to each assignment. (This) soldier's writings of his life and times provide the basis for a forthright glimpse into another era. His voluminous diaries and reminiscences amount to a second career which added lustre to the first. Corney's perceptive and continuing observations reveal the excitement, color, pathos and suffering that surrounded him." Very minor edge wear. Dust jacket has been price clipped, has minor edge wear, one tiny tear archivally taped, fading to spine color, minor rubbing.. Hard Cover. Very Good+/Good+.