THE UNCOMMON SOLDIER: The Story of Alfred Mordecai

This is a fictionalized biography of Alfred Mordecai, the youngest son of an early 19th century Jewish family equally devoted to its Hebrew tradition and the ideals of the American Republic. From earliest years, Alfred felt called to be a soldier, though his family would have preferred him to be a scholar. He eventually went to West Point, became a mathematics professor, and after his commission a professor of philosophy at the famous military institution. Later he codified army law into The Digest of Military Law and was always held in high honor as a scholar and military man by the Army. Captain Mordecai finally retired from the Army when he was faced with the possibility of his fighting on the side of the South with his own son fighting on that of the North. The stress throughout is on the compatibility of Jewish and American ideals, the patriotism manifested in the Mordecai family and the value for America of the ethical ideals of Judaism. It is written in a style that should sustain the interest of the young reader.