The American culture of war : the history of U.S. military force from World War II to Operation Iraqi Freedom / Adrian R. Lewis.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lewis, Adrian R.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States--History, Military--20th century.

United States.

History, Military.

United States--History, Military--21st century.

United States--Military policy.

Military policy.

War and society--United States.

War and society.

Physical Description:

xxi, 538 pages : illustrations, maps ; 27 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Routledge, [2007]

Summary:

The American Culture of War presents a sweeping critical examination of every major American war since 1941: World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and the first and second Persian Gulf wars. As he carefully considers the myriad cultural forces that surrounded each military engagement, Adrian R. Lewis offers an original, 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. With each chapter similarly structured to allow the reader to draw parallels between the wars, Lewis deftly traces the evolution of U.S. military strategy since the Second World War. Timely, incisive, and comprehensive, The American Culture of War is a unique and invaluable survey of over sixty years of American military history.

Contents:

1 Culture, Genes, and War 1

2 Traditional American Thinking about the Conduct of War 19

3 The Legacy of World War II: Man versus Machine 37

4 Truman and the Evolution of National Military Strategy and Doctrine 63

5 The Korean War: The Opening Phases, 1950-51 83

6 The Korean War: The Final Phases, 1951-53 115

7 Eisenhower and Massive Retaliation 147

8 Civil-Military Relations and the National Military Command Structure 169

9 Limited War: Kennedy and McNamara 201

10 The Vietnam War: The Opening Phases, 1955-67 229

11 The Vietnam War: The Final Phases, 1967-75 265

12 The Recovery and Reorganization of the U.S. Armed Forces 295

13 The Persian Gulf War: War without the People 317

14 The Persian Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm 339

15 The New American Way of War 377

16 The Second Persian Gulf War: The Conventional War 401

17 The Second Persian Gulf War: The Unfinished Insurgency War 437

18 The New American Citizenship 451

Appendix Military Map Symbols 459

Selected Bibliography: The American Culture of War 501.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 501-521) and index.

ISBN:

0415979765

0415979757

OCLC:

70131086

Online:

Publisher description