Professor Hicken's shuffle through historical sources turns up only admirable characteristics in the American soldier, from the Revolution to Korea, except, of course, for a few manly faults (chronic griping, VD). On the front: ""All that any fighting American has ever wanted is a fighting chance."" From the point of view of allies: ""In virtually every conflict the American is viewed as a courageous individual soldier."" As an average GI: ""He is basically the same now as he was a century ago. . . . He is aggressive, hard-working, amazingly adaptable, capable of great endurance, at times unpredictable, and he never likes defeat. In other words, he is a winner."" Hicken, who teaches history at Western Illinois University, previously wrote a more parochial study of the soldier (Illinois in the Civil War). Here he tries to compile a history and a handbook of the generic type, and though the body of his chapters contain some balancing details (both pro GI and con), the conclusions are uniformly euphemistic.