The American Culture of War

A History of US Military Force from World War II to Operation Iraqi Freedom

By Adrian R. Lewis

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• ISBN: 978-0-415-97975-7
• Binding: Paperback (also available in Hardback)
• Published by: Routledge
• Publication Date: 21st December 2006
• Pages: 560

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About the Book

The American Culture of War presents a sweeping critical examination of every major American war since 1941: the Second World War, Korea, Vietnam, and the First and Second Persian Gulf Wars. 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. With each chapter similarly structured to allow the reader to draw parallels between the wars, Lewis deftly traces the evolution of US 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.

For additional information and classroom resources please visit The American Culture of War companion website at www.routledge.com/textbooks/9780415979757.

Reviews

'An outstanding volume that is sure to be of interest to faculty and cadets, as well as historians and national security professionals far and wide.' – Lance Betros, Colonel, US Army

'The American Culture of War is a first-rate study that asks big questions and provides answers that are of value to American and non-American scholars alike. It makes a major contribution to the developing cultural approach to military history.' – Jeremy Black, University of Exeter, UK

'Lewis combines a powerful argument with a detailed critique of U.S. strategy since World War II as overly dependant on technology, and shows how these have eroded two traditional American moral concepts: the equal value of every human life and the universal civic responsibility to defend the country.' –Dennis Showalter, Colorado College, USA

'The American Culture of War is a striking and magisterial tour de force. Combining the hard-headed realism and moral indignation of a professional soldier with the keen analytical outlook of a trained historian, Adrian Lewis exposes the political in-fighting, intellectual follies, cultural arrogance, media ignorance, inter-service rivalries, and changes in the national mood that have repeatedly caused the United States to wage its most recent wars in ways that play to its weaknesses rather than its strengths. The American Culture of War should be mandatory reading for policy makers, military leaders, students of military history, and all Americans with the slightest interest in national security.' – Gregory J.W. Urwin, Temple University, USA

Table of Contents

Introduction 1. War, Culture, and Genes 2. Traditional American Thinking About the Conduct of War 3. The Legacy of World War II 4. Truman and the Evolution of National Military Strategy and Doctrine 5. The Korean War 6. The Korean War: The Final Phases, 1951–1953 7. Eisenhower and Massive Retaliation 8. Civil-Military Relations and the National Military Command Structure 9. Limited War 10. The Vietnam War 11. The Vietnam War: The Final Phases, 1967–1975 12. The Persian Gulf War 13. The Persian Gulf War: Military Victory and Political Failure 14. The Second Persian Gulf War and the New American Way of War 15. The Second Persian Gulf War: The Unnecessary War 16. The New American Citizenship

About the Author(s)

Adrian Lewis is Associate Professor of History and Department Chair at the University of North Texas. He has taught at the Naval War College and at West Point, and is a retired United States Army Major. He is the author of Omaha Beach: A Flawed Victory.

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