The Lords of Discipline

As Will McLean begins his studies at the Carolina Military Institute, antimilitary sentiment is raging and the American South is in turmoil over desegregation. An outsider to the harsh authoritarianism of the military, McLean survives his freshman year despite the school's notorious hazing, and avoids attention from its fabled and menacing secret society, the Ten. But when he becomes the mentor of the school's first black student, Will is drawn into the intense racial politics-and the simmering threat of violence-that lie just beneath the surface at the Institute. Featuring Conroy's lush prose and richly drawn characters, The Lords of Discipline is a powerful story of a young man's stand for justice and the friendship, love, and courage that he finds along the way.

Pat Conroy is the New York Times bestselling author of two memoirs and seven novels, including The Prince of Tides, The Great Santini, and The Lords of Discipline.Born the eldest of seven children in a rigidly disciplined military household, he attended the Citadel, the military college of South Carolina. He briefly became a schoolteacher (which he chronicled in his memoir The Water Is Wide) before publishing his first novel, The Boo. Conroy lives on Fripp Island, South Carolina