A concise history of the United States Marine Corps, charting its changing expeditionary force strategies, and the conflicts in which it has fought.

Paul W. Westermeyer is a military historian. He began his career teaching history at Ohio State University. In 2005 Westermeyer became a historian for the U.S. Marine Corps History Division, where he began publishing books. He was the 2015 recipient of the "Brigadier General Edwin Simmons-Henry I. Shaw Award" for his book Liberating Kuwait: U.S. Marines in the Gulf War, 1990-1991. He holds both a Bachelor's and a Master's degree from Ohio State University.