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The Americans on D-Day: A Photographic History of the Normandy Invasion
by Martin K. MorganExperience the Normandy invasion through some of D-Day’s most incredible photographs: “A rare contribution to our understanding of that historic event.” —Barrett Tillman, author of Brassey’s D-Day EncyclopediaAlthough it took a multinational coalition to conduct World War II’s amphibious D-Day landings, the US military made a major contribution to the operation that created mighty American legends and unforgettable heroes. In The Americans on D-Day: A Photographic History of the Normandy Invasion, WWII historian Martin K. A. Morgan presents 450 of the most compelling and dramatic photographs captured in northern France during the first day and week of its liberation.With eight chapters of place-setting author introductions, riveting period imagery, and highly detailed explanatory captions, Morgan offers anyone interested in D-Day a fresh look at a campaign that was fought many decades ago and yet remains the object of unwavering interest to this day. While some of these images are familiar, they have been treated anonymously for far too long and haven’t been placed within the proper context of time or place. Many others have never been published before. Together, these photographs reveal minute details about weapons, uniforms, and equipment, while simultaneously narrating an intimate human story of triumph, tragedy, and sacrifice. From Omaha Beach to Utah, from Sainte-Mère-Église to Pointe du Hoc, The Americans on D-Day is a striking visual record of the epic air, sea, and land battle that was the Normandy invasion.
The Americans on D-Day & in Normandy: Rare Photographs From Wartime Archives (Images of War)
by Brooke S. BladesA pictorial history of the United States&’s military operations in World War II, focused on the Battle of Normandy and the liberation of northern France. The experiences and achievements of the United States land, sea, and air forces on 6 June 1944 and the weeks following have been deservedly well chronicled. Omaha Beach saw the fiercest fighting of the whole OVERLORD invasion, and the opposition faced in the U.S. sector shocked commanders and men at all levels. The outcome was in the balance and, thanks to the courage and determination shown by the attackers, game-changing failure was narrowly averted. This superb Images of War book examines, using contemporary and modern images and maps, the course of the campaign and its implication for both the American troops and the civilian population of the battle zone. These revealing images, both color and black and white, are enhanced by full captions and the author&’s thoroughly researched text. The result is a graphic reminder of the liberation of Northern France and the extraordinary sacrifice made by men not just of the United States military but the other Allied nations.
America’s Allies and War: Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq
by Jason W. DavidsonWhy do Britain, France, and Italy provide or refuse military support for U. S. -led uses of force? This book provides a unique, multiple-case study analysis of transatlantic burden-sharing. Sixty original interviews with top policymakers and analysts provide insight into allies' decisions regarding the Kosovo War, Afghanistan, and the Iraq War.
America's Arab Nationalists: From the Ottoman Revolution to the Rise of Hitler (Routledge Studies in Middle Eastern History)
by Aaron BermanAmerica’s Arab Nationalists focuses in on the relationship between Arab nationalists and Americans in the struggle for independence in an era when idealistic Americans could see the Arab nationalist struggle as an expression of their own values. In the first three decades of the twentieth century (from the 1908 Ottoman revolution to the rise of Hitler), important and influential Americans, including members of the small Arab-American community, intellectually, politically and financially participated in the construction of Arab nationalism. This book tells the story of a diverse group of people whose contributions are largely unknown to the American public. The role Americans played in the development of Arab nationalism has been largely unexplored by historians, making this an important and original contribution to scholarship. This volume is of great interest to students and academics in the field, though the narrative style is accessible to anoyone interested in Arab nationalism, the conflict between Zionists and Palestinians, and the United States’ relationship with the Arab world.
America's Black Sea Fleet
by Robert ShenkIn a high-tempo series of operations throughout the Black Sea, Aegean Sea and eastern Mediterranean, a small American fleet of destroyers and other naval vessels responded ably to several major international crises including the last days of the Russian Revolution and the 1920-1922 Turkish Nationalist Revolution. Officers and men of the navy's "four-piper" destroyers began by investigating circumstances on the ground in mainland Turkey right after World War I, and by transporting American relief teams to ports throughout Turkey and Southern Russia to aid the tens of thousands of orphans and refugees who had survived the wartime Armenian genocide.Then the destroyers assisted in the final evacuation of 150,000 White Russians from the Crimea to Constantinople (one of the final acts of the Russian Revolution); coordinated the visits of the Hoover grain ships to ports in Southern Russia where millions were enduring a horrendous famine; witnessed and reported on the terrible dolorosa of the Greeks of the Pontus region of Turkey; and, in September of 1922, conducted the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of Greek and Armenian refugees from burning Smyrna. This latter event was the cataclysmic conclusion of the Turkish Nationalist Revolution, which had begun in early 1920.After Smyrna, the destroyers escorted Greek steamers in their rescue of ethnic Christian civilians being expelled from all the ports of Anatolian Turkey. As the conclusion of a long war between Nationalist Turks and an invading Hellenic Greek army, these people were being forced out of their ancestral homes by the Turks. Sometimes American destroyers carried hundreds of such refugees to friendly ports on their own weather decks.Upon the burning of Smyrna in September of 1922, Admiral Mark Bristol's small fleet had grown to some 26 naval vessels, most of them destroyers, although some cruisers, naval repair vessels and supply ships also came, and the battleships Arizona and Utah also appeared briefly. It was during 1922 that the destroyer Bainbridge rescued 482 of 495 men, women and children from the burning French transport Vinh Long in the Sea of Marmora. The destroyer accomplished this by the expedient of ramming the large French ship so the exploding ammunition could not continue to force the vessels apart. For this action, Lieut. Commander W. Atlee Edwards was awarded the Medal of Honor by America, and the Legion of Honor by France.Over four years, Admiral Bristol maintained a strong grip on American naval and diplomatic affairs throughout the region. Headquartered at the American Embassy at Constantinople, Bristol also worked to further American business interests in Turkey, and tended to favor Turks over Greeks and Armenians in the process. Many Americans were convinced that Bristol was biased on behalf of the Turks, and a couple of navy captains risked their careers by speaking out about impending Turkish massacres that Bristol wanted to hush up.Several later-famous admirals saw duty in Bristol's small navy, including William Leahy, Thomas Kinkaid, Julian Wheeler, Tip Merrill, Japy Hepburn and Dan Gallery, while statesman Allen Dulles was one of Bristol's key diplomats. Most of these men and most of the sailors, too, enjoyed the terrific nightlife of Constantinople that existed right alongside all the refugee heartbreak. When their duties kept them at sea or alongside grain ships in Russia or moored at the spartan Black Sea ports, the Americans kept their spirits up by racing ships' boats, shooting game, sightseeing, and (especially) by playing baseball. Captain Pratt Mannix even took advantage of his ship's briefly anchoring near the Gallipoli battlefield to become the first American to swim the famous Hellespont
America’s Buried History: Landmines in the Civil War
by Kenneth R. RutherfordDespite all that has been published on the American Civil War, one aspect that has never received the in-depth attention it deserves is the widespread use of landmines across the Confederacy. These “infernal devices” dealt death and injury in nearly every Confederate state and influenced the course of the war. Kenneth R. Rutherford rectifies this oversight with America’s Buried History: Landmines in the Civil War, the first book devoted to a comprehensive analysis and history of the fascinating and important topic. Modern landmines were used for the first time in history on a widespread basis during the Civil War when the Confederacy, in desperate need of an innovative technology to overcome significant deficits in materiel and manpower, employed them. The first American to die from a victim-activated landmine was on the Virginia Peninsula in early 1862 during the siege of Yorktown. Their use set off explosive debates inside the Confederate government and within the ranks of the army over the ethics of using “weapons that wait.” As Confederate fortunes dimmed, leveraging low-cost weapons like landmines became acceptable and even desirable. The controversial weapon was the brainchild of Confederate General Gabriel J. Rains (who had experimented with explosive booby traps in Florida two decades earlier during the Seminole Wars, and other Confederates soldiers developed a sundry of landmine varieties, including command-controlled and victim-activated. The devices saw extensive use in Virginia, at Port Hudson in Louisiana, in Georgia, the Trans-Mississippi Theater, during the closing weeks of the war in the Carolinas, and in harbors and rivers in multiple states. Debates over the ethics of using mine warfare did not end in 1865, and are still being waged to this day. Dr. Rutherford, who is known worldwide for his work in the landmine discipline, and who himself lost his legs to a mine in Africa, relies on a host of primary and secondary research to demonstrate how and why the mines were built, how and where they were deployed, the effects of their use, and the reactions of those who suffered from their deadly blasts. America’s Buried History is an important contribution to the literature on one of the most fundamental, contentious, and significant modern conventional weapons. According to some estimates, by the early 1990s landmines were responsible for more than 26,000 deaths each year worldwide. Landmines, argues Dr. Rutherford, transitioned from “tools of cowards” and “offenses against democracy and civilized warfare” to an accepted form of warfare until the early 1990s. The genesis of this acceptance began during the American Civil War.
America's Cold War: The Politics of Insecurity, Second Edition
by Campbell Craig Fredrik Logevall“A creative, carefully researched, and incisive analysis of U.S. strategy during the long struggle against the Soviet Union.” —Stephen M. Walt, Foreign Policy “Craig and Logevall remind us that American foreign policy is decided as much by domestic pressures as external threats. America's Cold War is history at its provocative best.” —Mark Atwood Lawrence, author of The Vietnam War The Cold War dominated world affairs during the half century following World War II. America prevailed, but only after fifty years of grim international struggle, costly wars in Korea and Vietnam, trillions of dollars in military spending, and decades of nuclear showdowns. Was all of that necessary? In this new edition of their landmark history, Campbell Craig and Fredrik Logevall include recent scholarship on the Cold War, the Reagan and Bush administrations, and the collapse of the Soviet regime and expand their discussion of the nuclear revolution and origins of the Vietnam War to advance their original argument: that America’s response to a very real Soviet threat gave rise to a military and political system in Washington that is addicted to insecurity and the endless pursuit of enemies to destroy. America’s Cold War speaks vividly to debates about forever wars and threat inflation at the center of American politics today.
America's Commandos: U.S. Special Operations Forces of World War II and Korea (G.I.)
by Leroy ThompsonA photographic history of elite units in WWII and Korea, including uniforms, equipment, and more. America deployed a diverse group of special operations forces (SOF) throughout World War II and in Korea. These elite units quickly earned a redoubtable reputation and proved themselves adept at hit-and-run raids, gathering intelligence in long range patrols, rescuing POWs, and living and fighting in hostile environments. This valuable study includes more than 100 rare and unusual photographs of the men, uniforms, special equipment, and insignia of these elite troops, accompanied by informative captions. Units covered include the Marine Raider regiments and Paramarines, Ranger battalions, &“Merrill&’s Marauders,&” the Special Service Force, OSS teams, Naval CDUs, and ski and mountain troops. America&’s Commandos is a key addition to the G.I. Series and examines some of America&’s most feared and capable elite forces.
America’s Concentration Camps: The Facts About Our Indian Reservations Today
by Carlos B. EmbryIn this book, which was first published in 1956, Kentucky newspaper editor, publisher and writer Carlos B. Embry presents a detailed examination of the legal, political and socioeconomic status of Native Americans.“A devastating survey of the plight of the American Indian touches on the history that preceded the retreat to the reservations, the nature of the Indian Bureau and its seeming philosophy of perpetual paternalism, and tells the story of the tribes through the viewpoint of their leaders.”—Kirkus Review
America's Covert Warriors: Inside the World of Private Military Contractors
by Shawn Engbrecht<p>Private military contractors, especially those in Iraq, have taken on far more than their original mandates required. Initially intended for combat support, they have become full-fledged warriors, many with little experience, scant oversight, and no accountability to the rules of engagement that constrain the U.S. military and coalition forces. When the occupation of Iraq turned into a fight against an insurgency, overwhelming U.S. and coalition military forces, the demand for private military contractors skyrocketed in 2003 and 2004. The explosive growth of such firms as Blackwater, Crescent, and others resulted in a relaxation of recruitment standards at precisely the same time that the U.S. military’s own standards of recruitment began to falter, but the standards for private military contractors fell much further and faster. The predictable result included excessive civilian casualties, a human tragedy whose full dimensions have yet to be seen by the American public. <p>Shawn Engbrecht has been training and recruiting private military contractors for more than a decade. Acknowledging that some private military contractors are out of control, he argues that the oft-made suggestion to fire them all is not the solution. Instead, Engbrecht contends that with proper training and development of recruits, along with enforceable regulation and oversight, private security companies can be successfully integrated into a total force package with a professional operational staff.</p>
America's Dirty Wars
by Russell CrandallThis book examines the long, complex experience of American involvement in irregular warfare. It begins with the American Revolution in 1776 and chronicles big and small irregular wars for the next two and a half centuries. Examples taken from the American experience reveal that fighting - and, more so, winning - all types of wars is extraordinarily complex, frustrating, controversial and bloody. What is readily apparent in dirty wars is that failure is painfully tangible while success is often amorphous. Successfully fighting these wars often entails striking a critical balance between military victory and politics. America's status as a democracy only serves to make fighting - and, to a greater degree, winning - these irregular wars even harder. Rather than futilely insisting that Americans should not or cannot fight this kind of irregular war, Russell Crandall argues that we would be better served by considering how we can do so as cleanly and successfully as possible.
America's Disappeared: Secret Imprisonment, Detainees, and the War on Terror (Open Media Series)
by Barbara Olshansky Steven Macpherson Watt Reed Brody Rachel Meeropol Michael RatnerThe confirmation proceedings for Alberto R. Gonzales and Condeleezza Rice, like the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, triggered a national debate about the U.S. government's controversial treatment of detainees and its practice of torture. At the heart of the debate is the question: Is the United States undermining democracy, freedom, and human rights in it's effort to protect its citizens from terrorism? The authors of AMERICA'S DISAPPEARED answer, yes.AMERICA'S DISAPPEARED describes how the U.S. government, in response to the events of 9/11, launched an unprecedented campaign of racial profiling, detentions, and deportations so grievous as to evoke the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. It brings together, for the first time, detainees' own testimonies along with analysis by the leading constitutional attorneys and human rights advocates. In addition to a detailed exploration of detention--the forms currently in use, and the conditions of each--the book challenges the Bush administration's justifications for violating the Geneva Conventions and the most basic definitions of human rights.
America's Economic Way of War: War and the US Economy from the Spanish-American War to the First Gulf War
by Hugh RockoffHow did economic and financial factors determine how America waged war in the twentieth century? This important new book exposes the influence of economics and finance on the questions of whether the nation should go to war, how wars would be fought, how resources would be mobilized, and the long-term consequences for the American economy. Ranging from the Spanish-American War to the Gulf War, Hugh Rockoff explores the ways in which war can provide unique opportunities for understanding the basic principles of economics as wars produce immense changes in monetary and fiscal policy and so provide a wealth of information about how these policies actually work. He shows that wars have been more costly to the United States than most Americans realize as a substantial reliance on borrowing from the public, money creation and other strategies to finance America's war efforts have hidden the true cost of war.
America's Economic Way of War: War and the US Economy from the Spanish-American War to the Persian Gulf War
by Hugh RockoffHow did economic and financial factors determine how America waged war in the twentieth century? This important new book exposes the influence of economics and finance on the questions of whether the nation should go to war, how wars would be fought, how resources would be mobilized, and the long-term consequences for the American economy. Ranging from the Spanish-American War to the Gulf War, Hugh Rockoff explores the ways in which war can provide unique opportunities for understanding the basic principles of economics as wars produce immense changes in monetary and fiscal policy and so provide a wealth of information about how these policies actually work. He shows that wars have been more costly to the United States than most Americans realize as a substantial reliance on borrowing from the public, money creation and other strategies to finance America's war efforts have hidden the true cost of war.
America's Elite: US Special Forces from the American Revolution to the Present Day
by Chris McnabFrom Roger's Rangers to the Revolution, Civil War, World War I & II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Bin Laden raid, this book covers over 250 years of American Special Forces action. America's Elite takes the reader through some of the most dramatic special forces operations in US history, from sniping British commanders during the Revolutionary War to Riverine incursions in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, and from demolition missions on D-Day to the SEAL assault on Osama bin Laden's compound in 2011. Training and selection procedures are explained in detail, and the book also describes some of the technologies that have separated regular soldiers from their Special Forces counterparts. Illustrated throughout with striking photography and artworks, America's Elite forms the most comprehensive and visually impressive single-volume guide to US Special Forces available.
America's First Ally: France in the Revolutionary War (The Pocket Manual Series)
by Norman Desmarais<p>The Revolutionary War historian provides “a comprehensive and accessible guide” to the vital influence France had on America’s path to independence (Publishers Weekly).<p> <p>French support for United States independence was both vital and varied, ranging from ideological inspiration to financial and military support. In this study, historian Norman Desmarais offers an in-depth analysis of this crucial relationship, exploring whether America could have won its independence without its first ally.<p> <p>Demarais begins with the contributions of French Enlightenment thinkers who provided the intellectual frameworks for the American and French revolutions. He then covers the many forms of aid provided by France during the Revolutionary War, including the contributions of individual French officers and troops, as well as covert aid provided before the war began. France also provided naval assistance, particularly to the American privateers who harassed British shipping. Detailed accounts drawn from ships’ logs, court and auction records, newspapers, letters, diaries, journals, and pension applications.<p> <p>In a more sweeping analysis, Desmarais explores the international nature of a war which some consider the first world war. When France and Spain entered the conflict, they fought the Crown forces in their respective areas of economic interest. In addition to the engagements in the Atlantic Ocean, along the American and European coasts and in the West Indies, there are accounts of action in India and the East Indies, South America and Africa.<p>
America's First Clash with Iran: The Tanker War, 1987–88
by Lee Allen Zatarain<p>A revealing account of the US conflict with Iran over the Persian Gulf during the Reagan era—and the groundwork it set for today’s tensions.<p> <p>In May 1987, the US frigate Stark was blown apart by an Iraqi jet fighter in the Persian Gulf, jumpstarting a major conflict with Iran that came to be known as the Tanker War. In America’s First Clash with Iran, author Lee Allen Zatarain employs Pentagon documents and firsthand interviews to reveal the full story of a conflict that may have presaged further battles to come.<p> <p>At the climax of the Iran-Iraq War, Iran was losing on the battlefield. Ayatollah Khomeini decided to close the Persian Gulf against shipping from Iraq’s oil-rich backer, the emirate of Kuwait. When the United States sent a fleet to the Gulf, raising the Stars and Stripes over Kuwait’s commercial tankers, a tinderbox was set off.<p> <p>The Iranians laid mines throughout the narrow passage and launched attack boats against both tankers and US warships. The US Navy fought its largest surface battle since World War II against the Ayatollah’s assault boats. As Saddam Hussein looked on, Iranian gunners fired missiles against US forces—actions which, if made known at the time, would have required the US Congress to declare war against Iran.<p>
America's First Frogman
by Elizabeth Kauffman BushAlthough bad eyesight kept him from receiving a commission in the U.S. Navy when he graduated from the Naval Academy in 1933, Draper Kauffman became a hero of underwater demolition in World War II and went on to a distinguished naval career. Today Admiral Kauffman is remembered as the nation's first frogman and the father of the Navy Seals. His spectacular wartime service disarming enemy bombs, establishing bomb disposal schools, and organizing and leading the Navy's first demolition units is the focus of this biography written by Kauffman's sister. Elizabeth Kauffman Bush, who also is the aunt of President George W. Bush, draws on family papers as well as Navy documents to tell Kauffman's story for the first time. Determined to defend the cause of freedom long before the U.S. ever entered the war, Kauffman was taken prisoner by the Germans as an ambulance driver in France, and after his release joined the Royal Navy to defuse delayed-action bombs during the London blitz. After Pearl Harbor his eyes were deemed adequate and he was given a commission in the U.S. Naval Reserve. With his experience, he was asked to establish an underwater demolition school in Fort Pierce, Florida, where he personally trained men to defuse bombs and neutralize other submerged dangers. His men were sent to demolish the obstacles installed by the Nazis at Normandy, and Kauffman himself led underwater demolition teams in the Pacific at Saipan, Tinian, and Guam and later directed UDT operations at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. His men remember him as an exceptional leader who led by example. He trained and fought alongside them, impervious to danger. Because of the high standards he set for those who became "frogmen,"thousands of American lives were saved in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. Draper Kauffman's early established UDT traditions of perseverance, teamwork, and a lasting brotherhood of men of extraordinary courage is carried on by Navy Seals. This is his legacy to the U.S. Navy and his country.
America's Fortress: A History of Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas, Florida (Florida History and Culture)
by THOMAS REIDA little-known Civil War outpost that was the most heavily armed coastal defense fort in United States historyKnown as the “American Gibraltar,” Fort Jefferson, located in the Dry Tortugas, Florida, was the most heavily armed coastal defense fort in United States history. Perceived as the nation’s leading maximum-security prison, the fort also held several of the accused conspirators in the Lincoln assassination. America’s Fortress is the first book-length, architectural, military, environmental, and political history of this strange and significant Florida landmark. This volume also fills a significant gap in Civil War history with regard to coastal defense strategy, support of the Confederacy blockade, the use of convicted Union soldiers as forced labor, and the treatment of civilian prisoners sentenced by military tribunals. Reid argues that Fort Jefferson’s troops faced very different threats and challenges than soldiers who served elsewhere during the war. He chronicles threats of epidemic tropical disease, hurricanes, shipwrecks, prisoner escapes, and Confederate attack. Reid also reports on white northerners’ perceptions of enslaved people, slavery, and the emerging free black soldiers of the latter years of the war. Drawing on the writings of Emily Holder, wife of Fort Jefferson’s resident surgeon, Reid is the first to offer a female perspective on life at the fort between 1859 and 1865. For history buffs and tourists, America's Fortress offers a fascinating account of this little-known outpost which has stood for over 160 years off the tip of the Florida Keys.
America's Good Terrorist: John Brown and the Harpers Ferry Raid
by Charles P. Poland Jr.<p>A biography of John Brown, examining his failed raid on Harpers Ferry, and the part his actions played in causing the Civil War.<p> <p>John Brown’s failed efforts at Harpers Ferry have left an imprint upon our history, and his story still swirls in controversy. Was he a madman who felt his violent solution to slavery was ordained by Providence or a heroic freedom fighter who tried to liberate the downtrodden slave? These polar opposite characterizations of the violent abolitionist have captivated Americans. The prevailing view from the time of the raid to well into the twentieth century—that his actions were the product of an unbalanced mind—has shifted to the idea that he committed courageous acts to undo a terrible injustice.<p> <p>Despite the differences between modern terrorist acts and Brown’s own violent acts, when Brown’s characteristics are compared to the definition of terrorism as set forth by scholars of terrorism, he fits the profile. Nevertheless, today Brown is a martyred hero who gave his life attempting to terminate the evil institution of human bondage. The modern view of Brown has unintentionally made him a “good terrorist,” despite the repugnance of terrorism that makes the thought of a benevolent or good terrorist an oxymoron.<p> <p>This biography covers Brown’s background and the context to his decision to carry out the raid, a detailed narrative of the raid and its consequences for both those involved and America; and an exploration of the changing characterization of Brown since his death.<p>
America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975 (3rd edition)
by George C. HerringAmericas Longest War provides a complete and balanced history of the Vietnam War. It is not mainly a military history, but seeks to integrate military, diplomatic, and political factors in order to clarify America's involvement and ultimate failure in Vietnam.
America’s Mercenaries: War By Proxy
by Major Kevin G. CollinsAlthough the government's reliance on contractors to support military forces is not a new phenomenon, the degree to which contractors are involved in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom (OIF) has increased substantially. In OIF in particular, contractors perform a wide range of services in support of stabilization and reconstruction efforts. Perhaps the most controversial and arguably the most troublesome of these contractors are those that are armed and use violence in the course of fulfilling their contractual obligations. This thesis explores whether or not such contractors, herein identified as private security providers (PSPs), have a destabilizing influence on United States political and military objectives. In doing so, the thesis identifies and evaluates the legal environment in which PSPs operate the intersection between PSP activities and critical requirements and vulnerabilities of coalition forces and PSP involvement within logical lines of operation within Iraq. In concluding, the author posits that PSPs have a destabilizing impact on not only the political and military mission, but the United States military as well. Finally, the author provides recommendations for employing PSPs in the present and future conflicts.
America's Modern Wars: Understanding Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam
by Christopher A. Lawrence<p>“A well researched and well analyzed study of the nature of insurgencies and guerilla warfare” (Military Review).<p> <p>The fighting skills and valor of the US military and its allies haven’t diminished over the past half-century—yet our wars have become more protracted and decisive results more elusive. With only two exceptions—Panama and the Gulf War under the first President Bush—our campaigns have taken on the character of endless slogs without positive results. This fascinating book takes a ground-up look at the problem to assess how our strategic objectives have become divorced from our true capability or imperatives.<p> <p>The book presents a unique examination of the nature of insurgencies and the three major guerrilla wars the United States has fought in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam. It is both a theoretical work and one that applies the hard experience of the past five decades to address the issues of today. As such, it also provides a timely and meaningful discussion of America’s current geopolitical position.<p> <p>It starts with the previously close-held casualty estimate for Iraq that The Dupuy Institute compiled in 2004 for the US Department of Defense. Going from the practical to the theoretical, it then discusses a construct for understanding insurgencies and the contexts in which they can be fought. It applies these principles to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam, assessing where the projection of US power can enhance our position and where it merely weakens it.<p> <p>It presents an extensive analysis of insurgencies based upon a unique database of eighty-three post-WWII cases. The book explores what is important to combat and what is not important to resist in insurgencies. It builds a body of knowledge, based upon a half-century’s worth of real-world data, with analysis, not opinion. In these pages, Christopher A. Lawrence, the President of The Dupuy Institute, provides an invaluable guide to how the US can best project its vital power while avoiding the missteps of the recent past.<p>
America's Needless Wars: Cautionary Tales of US Involvement in the Philippines, Vietnam, and Iraq
by David R. ContostaThis eye-opening book takes a unique approach to the history of U.S. foreign policy by examining three unrelated conflicts, all of which ended tragically and resulted in the deaths of millions on both sides. By analyzing what went wrong in each case, the author uncovers a pattern of errors that should serve as a precaution for future decision makers contemplating a conflict abroad. Why did President McKinley oppose Filipino independence forces if his motivation was truly to help Filipinos overthrow Spanish domination? Why did several U.S. presidents ignore the failures of the French in Vietnam and reject peace overtures from popular revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh to bring the conflict to an early end? And how could American leaders have been so wrong about Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons of mass destruction and then let Iraq devolve into chaos after overthrowing the dictator? Historian David R. Contosta has sifted through official hearings, media investigations, public documents, memoirs of those for and against the conflicts, and numerous histories to uncover the answers to these questions. The common thread that links these wars from different centuries is that political leaders all too often have acted out of ignorance, arrogance, fear, and partisan gamesmanship. These lapses were compounded by the failure of the media to inform the public accurately and dispassionately. The sad result is that America has paid a high price in lost lives and tarnished national reputation.As the author notes in conclusion, if American exceptionalism is to have any meaning, then we must honestly appraise our past foreign-policy blunders to ensure wiser political action in the future.From the Hardcover edition.
America’s Persecuted Minority: Big Business
by Ayn RandAmerica’s Persecuted Minority: Big Business was a lecture delivered by Ayn Rand at the Ford Hall Forum, Boston, on December 17, 1961, and at Columbia University on February 15, 1962. Rand argues that “every ugly, brutal aspect of injustice toward racial or religious minorities is being practiced towards businessmen” under America’s antitrust laws. Rand catalogues the injustices of antitrust, decries the scapegoating of businessmen, analyzes particular cases, rejects antitrust laws as non-objective and calls for their ultimate repeal.