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BRUCE P. GLEASON

Historian, Author, Musician

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Stemming from the tradition of rallying troops and frightening enemies, mounted bands played a unique and distinctive role in American military history. Their fascinating story within the U.S. Army unfolds in this latest book from noted music historian and former army musician Bruce P. Gleason.

Sound the Trumpet, Beat the Drums: Horse-Mounted Bands of the U.S. Army, 1820 – 1940 is available at your favorite local bookstore, and Magers & Quinn, Target, Bookshop.orgAmazon, Barnes & Noble, J.W. Pepper, and Eurobuch, and directly from the University of Oklahoma Press.

"Bruce Gleason has provided us with a salutary, well-documented introduction to a neglected subject. Packed with engrossing details, lively anecdotes, and rare images, Sound the Trumpet, Beat the Drums will enlighten and entertain all readers interested in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century music, military history, and American studies in general."

—James A. Davis, author of Music Along the Rapidan: Civil War Soldiers, Music and Community During Winter Quarters, Virginia

To be released, Fall 2024:

Setting himself apart from the millions of people who have thought, “I should be writing a book,” Bruce Gleason does it in spades with Berlin and the 298th Army Band, 1988 – 1991: A Memoir. Providing a fascinating review of not only the work of army bandsmen and women, Dr. Gleason also offers more than a glimpse of the historic city of Berlin as well as the Prussian and Nazi ghosts that still reside there.

“Acclaimed historian, Bruce Gleason has written another captivating book. This time, it’s personal—a memoir of his U.S. Army enlistment while stationed in Berlin, Germany. His account of the fall of the Berlin Wall—told within the context of Nazi and Prussian history—followed by German reunification coupled with tales of his travels through Europe and Asia is a must-read for all with an interest in world history.” — Jill Sullivan, author of Bands of Sisters, U.S. Women’s Military Bands of World War II

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