A People's History of the U.S. Military: Ordinary Soldiers Reflect on Their Experience of War, from the American Revolution to Afghanistan (New Press People's History)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.22 (762 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 159558935X |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 384 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-10-04 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
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. There were major conflicts on both sides as to whether black men should serve in the armies. This history is compact yet complete, and its narrative is excellent. Their pensions have frequently been reneged upon. 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. Even today, there is a very high suicide rate for veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq. Except for the 20-odd years following WWII, American veterans have been mistrusted, regarded as degenerate and a source of social tension. Bellesiles finishes with accounts from the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. --Frieda Murray . In it he shows that military service can enrich or destroy
Mike said Bellesiles finally ends his pantomime of being a real historian. At least Bellesiles decided to drop any pretense of being a credible historian with this piece of agitprop. Like most pieces of revisionist history, this is a train wreck. While he has learned to actually document his sources and ensure any crticial reading of his work will stand up to a superficial kind of scrutiny, he repeats the time honored tradition of revisionist by informing the reader of the bare m
The often dramatic, sometimes very raw, 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, and women disguising themselves as men in order to serve their country to African Americans fighting for their freedom through military service.Praised as compact and complete” (Booklist), an excellent educational tool” (Publishers Weekly), and a useful, unsettling, bottom–up history of America’s wars that emphasizes