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Summary
Summary
In A People's History of the U.S. Military, historian Michael A. Bellesiles draws from three centuries of soldiers' personal encounters with combat--through fascinating excerpts from letters, diaries, and memoirs, as well as audio recordings, film, and blogs--to capture the essence of the American military experience firsthand, from the American Revolution to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Military service can shatter and give meaning to lives; it is rarely a neutral encounter, and has contributed to a rich outpouring of personal testimony from the men and women who have literally placed their lives on the line. The often dramatic and always richly textured first-person accounts collected in this book cover a wide range of perspectives, from ardent patriots to disillusioned cynics; barely literate farm boys to urbane college graduates; scions of founding families to recent immigrants, enthusiasts, and dissenters; women disguising themselves as men in order to serve their country to African Americans fighting for their freedom through military service.
A work of great relevance and immediacy--as the nation grapples with the return of thousands of men and women from active military duty-- A People's History of the U.S. Military will become a major new touchstone for our understanding of American military service.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In just under 400 pages Central Connecticut State University history professor Bellesiles (1877: America's Years of Living Violently) provides a captivating history, based largely on first-person accounts, of America's military. Drawing on letters, diaries, and memoirs of American soldiers over more than two centuries, he connects the soldiers' accounts with a contextual narrative that ensures the book is more than a disconnected anthology of testimonies of service. Bellesiles's most important contribution is focusing the different chapters on various themes of military service unique to each war. For example, in the first chapter he focuses on the poverty that motivated soldiers to join the American Revolution with Congress's promise of pay, food, and a piece of land; in the chapter on the War of 1812 he emphasizes the nation's lack of preparedness and the ineffectiveness of the undisciplined, occasionally mutinous militia; and in the final chapter on Iraq and Afghanistan he investigates contemporary issues such as gays in the military and women in combat, concluding that the military has often evolved ahead of the rest of society, offering opportunities to minorities and the poor, and functioning as a meritocracy. Bellesiles's thematic structure gives the book a fresh perspective and makes it an excellent educational tool. Agent: Dan Green, Pom Inc. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Plenty of books record soldiers' writings and interviews, but this one stands out modestly by sticking mostly to enlisted men. Throughout history, writes Bellesiles (History/Central Connecticut State Univ.; 1877: America's Year of Living Violently, 2010), working-class young men have enlisted in search of adventure or a paying job. Those in the United States have been no different except in one respect. From 1775 until the 20th century, Americans tended to consider themselves citizen-soldiers giving up their freedom to fight for liberty. As the author demonstrates, this patriotism was severely tested by the miseries of service; readers will squirm at accounts of ineptitude, racism, intolerance and atrocities. During the American Revolution and the War of 1812, soldiers were simply not fed or paid. In the Civil War and World War I, they were ordered forward in suicidal charges, and they knew it. WWII was not quite the "good war" of popular memory, but it enjoyed national support. This absence in Korea and Vietnam devastated morale. The elimination of the draft in 1973 eliminated the citizen-soldier, and civilians now view this all-volunteer force with worshipful admiration. Although now professionals, soldiers remain supersensitive to incompetent leadership and impossible missions. Ironically, civilians glorified fighting men but ignored veterans until they formed their own pressure group. Lobbying by the Grand Army of the Republic produced pensions for Union Civil War veterans, the largest federal budget expense for decades after the 1890s. The GI Bill of Rights remains the sole government entitlement program that no Republican would dare denounce. Surrounded by Bellesiles' acerbic commentary, this is a useful, unsettling bottom-up history of America's wars that emphasizes the soldiers' mistreatment, suffering and injustice.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Controversial historian Bellesiles' most recent book explores the American army from the Revolution through Iraq and Afghanistan, using excerpts from letters, diaries and memoirs, recordings, and videos and blogs of soldiers in combat. In it he shows that military service can enrich or destroy a life in many ways, but that our soldiers' comradeship under fire and strong sense of nationalism, despite poor supplies, low pay, and contempt for veterans, have kept this country going for 236 years. The material from the Revolutionary War shows that many young men enlisted for the promised food and pay, which were often short or not provided at all. There were major conflicts on both sides as to whether black men should serve in the armies. Many of the same men, a generation older, fought in the War of 1812. The documents show that quite a few soldiers were confused as to why the war was being fought that hasn't changed in 200 years but glad to accept General Andrew Jackson as a popular hero. The Mexican War, with its low casualty rate, was generally a celebration of Manifest Destiny, although certain farseeing individuals, including Lieutenant Ulysses S Grant, altered their career plans as a result of the conflict. The Civil War, with its rapid-firing weapons, more powerful artillery, and frightful casualty rates, was a shock for men and women on both sides. Bellesiles finishes with accounts from the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. This history is compact yet complete, and its narrative is excellent. Its only fault is a somewhat didactic plea for honoring and understanding our veterans. Except for the 20-odd years following WWII, American veterans have been mistrusted, regarded as degenerate and a source of social tension. Their pensions have frequently been reneged upon. Even today, there is a very high suicide rate for veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq.--Murray, Frieda Copyright 2010 Booklist
Choice Review
Histories of the US military experience abound. The classic accounts by such established historians as Russell Weigley and Geoffrey Perret were updated and improved upon with Allan Millett, Peter Maslowski, and William Feis's For the Common Defense (CH, Apr'85), revised and expanded in 2012. Yet Bellesiles (Central Connecticut State Univ.) adds a new dimension by interspersing his narrative with personal experiences of and observations from men in battle, beginning with the Revolutionary War and continuing up to the present conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Drawing from numerous firsthand accounts, Bellesiles enables readers to see and hear the horrors and boredom of war at its most intimate level. With evenhanded treatment of all major US conflicts, the author provides general overviews of each war and delivers keen insights into the prominent technical and strategic developments in each struggle. Over the years, Bellesiles has written extensively on various aspects of US wars, and this new book reflects top-notch historical craftsmanship. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. E. A. Goedeken Iowa State University
Table of Contents
| Introduction | p. 1 |
| 1 The American Revolution | p. 11 |
| 2 The "War of 1812 | p. 44 |
| 3 The Mexican War | p. 71 |
| 4 The Civil War | p. 95 |
| 5 Indian Wars | p. 131 |
| 6 The Wars of Empire | p. 157 |
| 7 World War I | p. 188 |
| 8 World War II | p. 221 |
| 9 Cold Wars: Korea and Vietnam | p. 257 |
| 10 Iraq and Afghanistan | p. 296 |
| Notes | p. 325 |
| Index | p. 365 |