Lewis “Bob” Sorley, noted author and a longtime friend of the Association of the U.S. Army’s Book Program, died Sept. 25. He was 90.

An Army brat who was born at West Point, New York, while his father was teaching at the U.S. Military Academy, Sorley entered the academy with the Class of 1956. He was a third generation West Pointer, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, Col. Lewis Sorley, and his father, Col. Merrow Sorley.

A prolific and noted author, Sorley was the editor of Gavin at War: The World War II Diary of Lieutenant General James M. Gavin, an official title in the AUSA Book Program. Gavin at War was recognized with a 2022 Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award in the journals, memoirs and letters category.

He also was the author of Thunderbolt: General Creighton Abrams and the Army of His Times, another AUSA Book Program title, and wrote papers for AUSA.

“Bob Sorley was a kind man and a respected scholar, and he was a champion of the AUSA Book Program,” said Joseph Craig, director of AUSA’s Book Program. “He acted as an ambassador for the program, always speaking highly of it and sending several authors our way.”

Upon graduation from West Point, Sorley was commissioned as an armor officer and assigned to the 2nd Armor Cavalry Regiment in Amberg, Germany, according to his obituary.

Over two decades of Army service, he led tank and armored cavalry units in the U.S. Germany and Vietnam. He also taught at West Point and the Army War College.

After his time in the Army, Sorley served as a senior civilian official with the CIA for almost a decade. When he retired from government service, Sorley became a leading historian of the Vietnam War and authored or edited nine books, according to his obituary.

His book, A Better War: The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of America's Last Years in Vietnam, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, and he won awards for biographies on Gens. Creighton Abrams, Harold Johnson and William Westmoreland.

Sorley was named a Distinguished Graduate by West Point, a Distinguished Eagle Scout, an Outstanding Alumnus of the Army War College, and the Virginia Military Institute’s first visiting professor of Leadership and Ethics. He also the first recipient of the General Andrew Goodpaster Prize for military scholarship, and he was longtime member of AUSA, the Army and Navy Club and the Society of the Cincinnati.

Burial will take place at the West Point Cemetery at a later date, according to his obituary.