Now in its third edition, The American Culture of War presents a sweeping critical examination of every major American war since 1941: World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the First and Second Persian Gulf Wars, U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the war against ISIS. As he carefully considers the cultural forces that surrounded each military engagement, Adrian Lewis offers an original and provocative look at the motives, people and governments used to wage war, the discord among military personnel, the flawed political policies that guided military strategy, and the civilian perceptions that characterized each conflict. This third edition features:
A new structure focused more exclusively on the character and conduct of the wars themselves
Updates to account for the latest, evolving scholarship on these conflicts
An updated account of American military involvement in the Middle East, including the abrupt rise of ISIS
The new edition of The American Culture of War remains a comprehensive and essential resource for any student of American wartime conduct.
A new structure focused more exclusively on the character and conduct of the wars themselves
Updates to account for the latest, evolving scholarship on these conflicts
An updated account of American military involvement in the Middle East, including the abrupt rise of ISIS
The new edition of The American Culture of War remains a comprehensive and essential resource for any student of American wartime conduct.
"Adrian Lewis's The American Culture of War goes beyond all other books on 20th and 21st Century wars by bringing into focus all of the societal influences that the American men and women bring to the battlefield. This makes it the perfect book for a general audience who are not just interested in the military issues associated with war."
"This third edition reiterates and reinforces the author's argument that America's ground forces have grown too small, and too isolated from the national mainstream, to sustain the kinds of war government policies have accepted. The resulting tissue of unsavory improvisations has been and is likely to remain a formula for slow-motion disaster."
"Adrian Lewis's The American Culture of War is, first of all, a superb account of U.S. military history since World War II. Equally noteworthy is Lewis's deep reflection on the cultural, social, and political transformations of the American way of war and the stresses they have placed on American democracy. An important, stimulating, and timely book!"
- Ron Milam, author of Not a Gentleman's War and Executive Director of the Institute for Peace & Conflict at Texas Tech University
"This third edition reiterates and reinforces the author's argument that America's ground forces have grown too small, and too isolated from the national mainstream, to sustain the kinds of war government policies have accepted. The resulting tissue of unsavory improvisations has been and is likely to remain a formula for slow-motion disaster."
- Dennis Showalter, Colorado College
"Adrian Lewis's The American Culture of War is, first of all, a superb account of U.S. military history since World War II. Equally noteworthy is Lewis's deep reflection on the cultural, social, and political transformations of the American way of war and the stresses they have placed on American democracy. An important, stimulating, and timely book!"
- Lance Betros, Provost, U.S. Army War College