Kategoria BISAC: History >> Military - United States

Major General Smedley Darlington Butler was a maverick Marine, the emblem of the old corps, and one of the most controversial figures in Marine history. He was a high school dropout who became a major general; a Quaker and a devout family man who was one of the toughest of the Marines; an aristocrat who championed the common man; a leader who thought of himself as striving to help the oppressed of the countries he occupied as the commander of an imperial fighting force. This work is an annotated edition of his letters covering the period from Butler's commissioning as a Second Lieutenant...

American women have had a sterling tradition of courage, sacrifice, and dedication in support roles in the armed services in times of war, and as spies, guerrilla leaders, and frontline correspondents. Most of their heroics and deeds have largely gone unreported, even though many have been killed in the line of duty, died of diseases or accidents, or suffered as prisoners of war. DEGREESL DEGREESL Focusing on human drama, this riveting book tells vividly of women's achievements in uniform going back to World War I. It also relates in compelling style the heated controversy over sending...

After almost two centuries of on-and-off resistance to white encroachment on Indian lands, a band of Ohio Indians attacked and almost destroyed the army of the infant U.S.A. The battle for the Indian village of Kekionga, unmentioned in any history textbook, stunned President Washington and Congress and provoked both a change in military policy and the first legislative investigation of an executive department under the Constitution. This history of the relations between Native Americans and European settlers, principally during the colonial and revolutionary periods, focuses on the clash...

Relying on extensive candid interviews from members of Congress and staff on defense authorization committees and senior Army general officers, Scroggs provides a strong insider analysis with recommendations. He examines the impact of culture on the varying abilities of public agencies, specifically the Army, to pursue its organizational interests through lobbying or liaising Congress. Scroggs argues that despite structural similarities in how the four military services approach Congress, differences in service culture affect their relative success in achieving their goals on the Hill....

Since the end of the Cold War, U.S. military forces have participated in an increasingly complex array of military operations, from disaster relief and peacekeeping to deadly combat. The unique nature of many of these missions calls into question what it means to be a soldier and may require adjustments not only in military doctrine, but also in the military's combat-oriented warrior identity. Franke examines the extent to which individuals who will lead U.S. forces in the 21st century are prepared cognitively to shift among mission requirements.

Using survey methods, Franke explores...

Dwight D. Eisenhower achieved prominence as a military leader during World War II and as a statesman following the conflict, but less is known about his ambitions and preparation between the wars that served as the foundation for his later success. The first modern analysis of Eisenhower's career before his rise to fame, this study examines Ike's intellectual ideas concerning politics, military strategy, and history in the decades between the wars. Holland details Eisenhower's quest to make himself the best officer in the U.S. Army and to prepare for the next war--which he firmly believed...

Today, there are more military family members than there are total uniformed service members. Sixty percent of the military are married, including more than eighty percent of all career-status personnel, and many have small children. They come from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, and they represent a wide variety of family types, including single parents, dual career military couples, and families with eldercare responsibilities. In an effort to cut costs, many of the services utilized by military families are being privatized or outsourced to civilian service providers. This guide...

The Spanish-American War has been called a splendid little war, but, as Rosenfeld contends, it was a dirty little war as well. This colorful account, presented in diary format from the days preceding the declaration of war to the signing of the peace treaty with Spain, reveals how every aspect of American life was ultimately touched by the war. From the beginning, a unique spirit of patriotism pervaded the nation as volunteers flooded local enlistment centers. But it soon was evident that the United States was ill prepared to deal with the demands of training new troops, transporting them...

This engaging book plunges readers into the culture shock of Marine Officer Candidates School, a ten-week physical, intellectual, and emotional testing ground so grueling that every fourth candidate fails to complete.

What does it take to become a Marine Officer? This engaging book transports readers through the culture shock of Marine Officer Candidates School, a ten-week physical, intellectual, and emotional testing ground that every fourth candidate fails to complete. The Sergeant Instructors' intensity is palpable as candidates are made to strip away civilian habits and...

The Revolutionary War was not a polite conflict between orderly troops and gentlemanly officers. Civilians on the home front suffered considerably. This account depicts the ugly side of the War for Independence, where roving bands of robbers, known as banditti, plagued the countryside in areas not fully under the control of either army.

Regardless of their political sympathies, American civilians lived in terror of these well-armed gangs of looters, who frequently engaged in torture, arson, and murder. The players in this sordid tale, chiefly motivated by greed, chose their victims...

How have military actions shaped the history of the United States and the country's role in world history? Noted military historian Jeremy Black examines American military exceptionalism with the critical eye of a foreign scholar. The British fought two wars with the Americans and followed American developments with keen interest. Black marshals contemporary British commentary to contextualize American military actions within a global perspective.

Several major conflicts are covered: DEGREESL DEGREESDBLThe War for Independence DEGREESDBLThe War of 1812 DEGREESDBLThe Mexican War...

Are we prepared to meet the challenges of the next war? What should our military look like? What lessons have we learned from recent actions in Afghanistan and Iraq? Macgregor has captured the attention of key leaders and inspired a genuine public debate on military reform. With the dangerous world situation of the early 21st century-and possible flashpoints ranging from the Middle East to the Far East-interservice cooperation in assembling small, mobile units and a dramatically simplified command structure is essential. MacGregor's controversial ideas, favored by the current Bush...

The story of veterans coming home from wars has not been concisely recorded to highlight the major problems they've faced. Having gone to war and survived, they have expectations, hopes, and dreams of a better life. In Homeward Bound, Taylor chronicles their struggles to realize all of those expectations by tracing the experiences of American veterans from the Revolutionary War through the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. In doing so, he connects pieces of a longer, larger story that has traditionally been told only in individual parts. Homeward Bound delves into...

Civilian control of the military is one of the cornerstones on which America is built, extending back even before the founding of the nation. In this volume, Byler examines the development of civil-military relations from the end of the Civil War until the start of the First World War, looking at what happened and why. During this period, an initially small, poorly funded, and often unpopular military continued its traditional subordination to civilian authority despite the dissatisfaction of many of its leaders. This volume explores why this was the case. It then demonstrates that even...

According to the Bush administration, the war in Iraq ended in May 2003 when the president pronounced mission accomplished from the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln. Yet, fighting, resistance, and American casualties continue. Stephen PelletiEre argues that it is Iraqi suspicion of the Americans' motive--the belief that the United States is out to tear the state apart--that is fueling the current rebellion. Resistance in Iraq has become a national struggle, tied to the mood of Iraqis generally, as well as to anger fed by experiences of the whole people over the course of the last quarter...

Professional Military Education (PME) is broader and more rigorous than is widely understood in the United States. Improving educational programs within the military service branches is at the very center of ongoing force transformation efforts and advanced educational opportunities occur at various, set levels of military experience. Military education increasingly conforms to standards imposed by outside civilian accrediting bodies and is mandated and monitored, to an extent, by Congress. "Military Education"explores this often-overlooked area of education within the context of the...

Battles are won in combat. Wars are won by winning the hearts and minds of the people. "Selling War to America" provides a thought-provoking look at the propaganda efforts the U.S. government has exerted to that end. It begins with an examination of the government's campaign to instigate a war with Spain and ends with a review of the methods being used to encourage support for the War Against Terrorism. The book analyzes each of these wars within the context of the techniques used to generate public support, also examining the results of propaganda efforts, both before and after each...

One aspect of war is often overlooked: how much do they cost and how are they funded. "Funding Extended Conflicts" develops a baseline on Federal spending for the two extended conflicts of the Cold War era, Korea and Vietnam, and compares them with the global war on terror, including current outlays for Iraq and Afghanistan. It also provides wartime cases that offer recommendations on how to pay for future wars and focuses on the length of the tails of such spending, which are often omitted in the final analyses and distort funding estimates. Background chapters examine financing and...

On a dark night in February 2005, Sara Sheldon arrived at Camp Fallujah, outside the dangerous ancient city for which it was named. Armed only with a camera, a laptop, and notepads, she was a spectator to the war who secured permission to embed with the 1st MEF and observe and interview Marines who happened to be women then posted at Camp Fallujah. In the time she spent there, Sheldon interviewed women who held ranks from corporal to colonel to gain a broad and varied perspective of the experiences representative of female Marines throughout Iraq. She reveals much about her subjects: the...

The Somervell and Mier Expeditions of 1842, culminating in the famous "black bean episode" in which Texas prisoners drew white or black beans to determine who would be executed by their Mexican captors, still capture the public imagination in Texas. But were the Texans really martyrs in a glorious cause, or undisciplined soldiers defying their own government? How did the Mier Expedition affect the border disputes between the Texas Republic and Mexico? What role did Texas President Sam Houston play? These are the questions that Sam Haynes addresses in this very readable book, which includes...