From Lexington to Baghdad and Beyond: War and Politics in the American Experience

by Donald M. Snow, Dennis M. Drew

Decisions about when, where, and why to commit the United States to the use of force, and how to conduct warfare and ultimately end it, are hotly debated not only contemporaneously but also for decades afterward. We are engaged in such a debate today, quite often without a solid grounding in the country's experience of war, both political and military. This book, by a political scientist and a career military officer and historian, is premised on the view that we cannot afford that kind of innocence. Updated and revised with new chapters on the Afghan and Iraq wars, the book systematically examines twelve U.S. wars from the revolution to the present day. For each conflict the authors review underlying issues and events; political objectives; military objectives and strategy; political considerations; military technology and technique; military conduct, and 'the better state of the peace', that is, the ultimate disposition of the original political goals.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

354 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1993

Reviews

[Eric Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Required textbook for college class War and American Society. Actually not a bad read as a narrative history. Isn't cluttered with a bunch of sidebars and graphs like most textbooks are.

[Ryan King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Required reading for a college course. The authors do an excellent job of explaining the motives behind each war American forces have been involved in and how those wars affected future contests.

[Matthew Hines · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume served as the main textbook for a 400 level college course I took called "War and American Society." It goes into the eight major conflicts of our time time, ending with the War on Terror. From these eight conflicts we learn lessons from each, and why we triumphed in some and failed in others. I ended this course with a greater appreciation of how to wage war and how not to repeat the mistakes made in previous conflicts.

[Joshua Horn · Rating 1 out of 5]

The structure of the book is too rigid, so it has little flow and is something repetitious.