How are soldiers made? Why do they fight? Re-imagining the study of armed forces and society, Barkawi examines the imperial and multinational armies that fought in Asia in the Second World War, especially the British Indian army in the Burma campaign. Going beyond conventional narratives, Barkawi studies soldiers in transnational context, from recruitment and training to combat and memory. Drawing on history, sociology and anthropology, the book critiques the 'Western way of war' from a postcolonial perspective. Barkawi reconceives soldiers as cosmopolitan, their battles irreducible to the national histories that monopolise them. This book will appeal to those interested in the Second World War, armed forces and the British Empire, and students and scholars of military sociology and history, South Asian studies and international relations.

How are soldiers made? Why do they fight? Re-imagining the study of armed forces and society, Barkawi examines the imperial and multinational armies that fought in Asia in the Second World War, especially the British Indian army in the Burma campaign. Going beyond conventional narratives, Barkawi studies soldiers in transnational context, from recruitment and training to combat and memory. Drawing on history, sociology and anthropology, the book critiques the 'Western way of war' from a postcolonial perspective. Barkawi reconceives soldiers as cosmopolitan, their battles irreducible to the national histories that monopolise them. This book will appeal to those interested in the Second World War, armed forces and the British Empire, and students and scholars of military sociology and history, South Asian studies and international relations.

This is an innovative account of how the concept of comradeship shaped the actions, emotions and ideas of ordinary German soldiers across the two world wars and during the Holocaust. Using individual soldiers' diaries, personal letters and memoirs, Kuhne reveals the ways in which soldiers' longing for community, and the practice of male bonding and togetherness, sustained the Third Reich's pursuit of war and genocide. Comradeship fuelled the soldiers' fighting morale. It also propelled these soldiers forward into war crimes and acts of mass murders. Yet, by practising comradeship, the soldiers could maintain the myth that they were morally sacrosanct. Post-1945, the notion of kameradschaft as the epitome of humane and egalitarian solidarity allowed Hitler's soldiers to join the euphoria for peace and democracy in the Federal Republic, finally shaping popular memories of the war through the end of the twentieth century.

This book fundamentally revises our notion of why soldiers of the eighteenth century enlisted, served and fought. In contrast to traditional views of the brutal conditions supposedly prevailing in old-regime armies, Ilya Berkovich reveals that soldiers did not regard military discipline as illegitimate or unnecessarily cruel, nor did they perceive themselves as submissive military automatons. Instead he shows how these men embraced a unique corporate identity based on military professionalism, forceful masculinity and hostility toward civilians. These values fostered the notion of individual and collective soldierly honour which helped to create the bonding effect which contributed toward greater combat cohesion. Utilising research on military psychology and combat theory, and employing the letters, diaries and memoirs of around 250 private soldiers and non-commissioned officers from over a dozen different European armies, Motivation in War transforms our understanding of life of the common soldier in early modern Europe.

Following the success of his #1 New York Times bestseller Make Your Bed, which has sold over one million copies, Admiral William H. McRaven is back with amazing stories of bravery and heroism during his career as a Navy SEAL and commander of America's Special Operations Forces. Admiral William H. McRaven is a part of American military history, having been involved in some of the most famous missions in recent memory, including the capture of Saddam Hussein, the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips, and the raid to kill Osama bin Laden.Sea Stories begins in 1963 at a French Officers' Club in France, where Allied officers and their wives gathered to have drinks and tell stories about their adventures during World War II-the place where a young Bill McRaven learned the value of a good story. Sea Stories is an unforgettable look back on one man's incredible life, from childhood days sneaking into high-security military sites to a day job of hunting terrorists and rescuing hostages.Action-packed, humorous, and full of valuable life lessons like those exemplified in McRaven's bestselling Make Your Bed, Sea Stories is a remarkable memoir from one of America's most accomplished leaders.

A detailed examination of African war veterans that reveals the changes they wrought on postwar transition and society. SPECIAL COMMENDATION FOR 2020 AMAURY TALBOT PRIZE FOR AFRICAN ANTHROPOLOGY Between 1975 and 2002 Angola underwent a very destructive civil war, in which much of the non-elite male population was conscripted into one or other of the contending armies, the country urbanised very rapidly, and colonial-era political and moral economies were radically reshaped. This book presents a detailed examination of the pronounced changes this wrought on Angolan society, and, for the first time, the gendered impact on a generation of Angolan menrecruited by the governing MPLA. Spall shows that the war's effects went far beyond the political and economic, to affect sexual relations, the social valuation of money, respect for elder male wisdom and what it meant to bea senior man, and the role of Christianity in everyday life. Masculinity was central to how the social transformations of war were intimately experienced by Angolan soldiers and the book investigates the consequences of the men'sexperiences when they returned home and the important role of military service in constructing Angola's post-war social trajectory. A powerful study of the gendered dynamics created by the war, the book will not only be of interest to Angolanists, but to those researching masculinity and military service on the continent, and in the wider sphere.

Veteran Friendships across Lifetimes: Brothers and Sisters in Arms seeks to add to the larger conversation about the "band of brothers" phenomenon by focusing on stories of survival after service members return home. Based on five years of research, including in-depth interviews with fifty servicemen and women, this book explores the interrelationship between camaraderie and contentment. Ward specifically looks at how military friendships translate from the battlefield into civilian life and how these friendships assist soldiers in gaining peace with the past, happiness in the present, and hope for the future. This text uses the themes of strength, kinship, and resilience to discuss the bonds and friendships that are created and maintained despite the savagery of the wartime experience.

Hundreds of Americans from the town of Stamford, Connecticut, fought in the Vietnam War. Of those, 29 did not return. These men and women came from all corners of the town. They were white and black, poor and wealthy. Some had not finished high school; others had graduate degrees. They served as grunts and helicopter pilots, battlefield surgeons and nurses, combat engineers and mine sweepers. Greeted with indifference and sometimes hostility upon their return home, they learned to suppress their memories in a nation fraught with political, economic and racial tensions. Now in their late 60s and 70s, these veterans have begun to tell their stories, which have been collected and recorded in this book.

Until now scholars have looked for the source of the indomitable Tommy morale on the Western Front in innate British bloody-mindedness and irony, not to mention material concerns such as leave, food, rum, brothels, regimental pride, and male bonding. However, re-examining previously used sources alongside never-before consulted archives, Craig Gibson shifts the focus away from battle and the trenches to times behind the front, where the British intermingled with a vast population of allied civilians, whom Lord Kitchener had instructed the troops to 'avoid'. Besides providing a comprehensive examination of soldiers' encounters with local French and Belgian inhabitants which were not only unavoidable but also challenging, symbiotic and uplifting in equal measure, Gibson contends that such relationships were crucial to how the war was fought on the Western Front and, ultimately, to British victory in 1918. What emerges is a novel interpretation of the British and Dominion soldier at war.

Originally published in 1934, this book presents the content of the inaugural lecture delivered at Cambridge University by Admiral Sir Herbert William Richmond (1871-1946) upon taking up the position of Vere Harmsworth Professor of Imperial and Naval History. The text provides a discussion regarding naval history and its relationship with the lives and institutions of citizens. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in naval or military history.

Originally published in 1928, this book presents a concise account regarding the nature and development of food provision in the British Army from 1645 onwards. The text was written by the renowned British military historian Sir John William Fortescue (1859-1933). Illustrative figures are included. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the development of canteens, military history and the writings of Fortescue.

Cultural practices and artifacts, in their multiple and varied forms, are grounded on values, which are so deeply internalized by people that usually remain in the background, as taken-for-granted guides for interpretations and decisions in everyday life. Shaping individual moral horizons is at the core of socialization processes, through which older generations aim to disseminate their culturally established values to the new ones, making use of suggestions mainly implicit in daily experiences and interactions. Despite the strength of these processes of cultural canalization, people find particular ways of positioning and interpreting social suggestions, drawing singular life trajectories and developing themselves as unique beings. This is truthful also in case of highly institutionalized settings like the military, in which people play in many forms an agentic role in their own development, being prepared to perform their professional duties in very complex and challenging activity contexts. This book is an invitation to dive deeper into human experiences lived in the military through qualitative and in-depth approaches, observing their affective qualities, the meanings they acquire and how they shape individuals' identities, fostering the development and try-out of specific ethical and moral values. The present work can contribute to research and professional practice in fields related to human development, social processes, education and people management in the military, as well as in other institutional contexts, especially by highlighting the affective, meaningful and moral-ethical dimensions of cultural experiences.

On Platform One of Paddington Station in London, there is a statue of an unknown soldier; he's reading a letter. On the hundredth anniversary of the declaration of war everyone in the country was invited to take a moment and write that letter. A selection of those letters are published here, in a new kind of war memorial - one made only of words. In a year of public commemoration 'Letter to an Unknown Soldier' invited everyone to step back from the public ceremonies and take a few private moments to think. Providing a space for people to reconsider the familiar imagery we associate with the war memorials - cenotaphs, poppies, and silence - it asked the following questions: if you could say what you want to say about that war, with all we've learned since 1914, with all your own experience of life and death to hand, what would you say? If you were able to send a personal message to this soldier, a man who served and was killed during World War One, what would you write? The response was extraordinary. The invitation was to everyone and, indeed, all sorts of people responded: schoolchildren, pensioners, students, artists, nurses, serving members of the forces and even the Prime Minister. Letters arrived from all over the United Kingdom and beyond, and many well-known writers and personalities contributed. Opening on 28th June 2014, the centenary of the Sarajevo assassinations, and closing at 11 pm on the night of 4 August 2014, the centenary of the moment when Prime Minister Asquith announced to the House of Commons that Britain had joined the First World War, this book offers a snapshot of what people in this country and across the world were thinking and feeling about the centenary of World War One.

Originally published in 1927, this book contains the text of lectures delivered to Cambridge undergraduates between 1920 and 1926, which demonstrate the possible applications of psychological techniques to the training and deployment of soldiers. Bartlett examines features in the life of a soldier, including fatigue and the effects of battle, and offers some suggestions on how modern psychology can better be employed in the service of the army. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the history of psychology and the role psychology can play in the armed forces.

Since September 11 2001, or "9/11", approximately 2.7 US million service members have served in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Many thousands have been wounded, with injuries ranging from mild to severe. PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and TBI (traumatic brain injury) have been called the "signature wounds" of war. The psychological injuries of war, PTSD and related co-morbid conditions, lead to feeling isolated from others, which directly affects intimate relationships. TBI (traumatic brain injury) is also a very common injury from these past decades of war. The treatment of PTSD and TBI involves medications that often have sexual side-effects, such as erectile dysfunction and loss of libido, weight gain, ejaculatory delay, and sedation. The bomb blast has been the "signature weapon" of these conflicts. Service members wear helmets and body armor, which covers their torsos. Thus blasts primarily effect the lower exposed areas of the body, including the extremities and pelvic region. Numerous service members have lost one or both legs, and in some cases arms. Because of the blast, many have lost part or all of their genitalia, their penis or testes. This loss directly impacts sexual functioning and fertility. The bomb blast or other weapons may also burn and scar faces and hands. Pain from these injuries and subsequent surgeries is a constant theme. Sexual difficulties contribute to relationship difficulties, domestic violence, and suicide. Less well recognized is the impact of toxic exposures on sexual health. All wars are environmentally dirty. Agent Orange is the best known toxic agent from Vietnam. Anti-malarial agents, used in Iraq and Afghanistan, cause a host of neuropsychiatric effects. Sexual assault is another type of toxic exposure. Thus there are a host of ways that exposure to combat can affect intimacy, sexual functioning and fertility. Fortunately there are many strategies to mitigate these negative effects, which are covered in detail in this book.

Most Americans familiar with General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing know him as the commander of American Expeditionary Forces in Europe during the latter days of World War I. But Pershing was in his late fifties by then. Pershing's military career began in 1886, with his graduation from West Point and his first assignments in the American West as a horsebound cavalry officer during the final days of Apache resistance in the Southwest, where Arizona and New Mexico still represented a frontier of blue-clad soldiers, Native Americans, cowboys, rustlers, and miners. But the Southwest was just the beginning of Pershing's West. He would see assignments over the years in the Dakotas, during the Ghost Dance uprising and the battle of Wounded Knee; a posting at Montana's Fort Assiniboine; and, following his years in Asia, a return to the West with a posting at the Presidio in San Francisco and a prolonged assignment on the Mexican-American border in El Paso, which led to his command of the Punitive Expedition, tasked with riding deep into Northern Mexico to capture the pistolero Pancho Villa. During those thirty years from West Point to the Western Front, Pershing had a colorful and varied military career, including action during the Spanish-American War and lengthy service in the Philippines. Both were new versions of the American frontier abroad, even as the frontier days of the American West were closing. All of Pershing's experiences in the American West prepared himfor his ultimate assignment as the top American commander during the Great War. If the American frontier and, more broadly, the American West provided a cauldron in which Americans tested themselves during the nineteenth century, the same is true for John Pershing. His story is a historical Western.

Inspired by a collection of letters received by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle during the First World War, Philip Abbott sets out to explore the inspirational campaign to provide body armour to British soldiers serving in the trenches. Setting the letters in the context of the terrible losses suffered during the Battle of the Somme, Abbott reveals the actions of the War Office and Ministry of Munitions in providing better protection for the troops. He examines Conan Doyle's personal motives for involvement, and investigates the part played by another Edinburgh graduate, Caleb Saleeby, in promoting the development of helmets, body armour and shields. Saving Lives is an absorbing account of how the creator of Sherlock Holmes used his fame to campaign against the horrific casualties on the Western Front.

First published in 1922 as the second edition of a 1920 original, and formed from lectures delivered in the Psychological Laboratory at the University of Cambridge in 1919, this book attempts 'to put into a biological setting the system of psycho-therapy which came to be generally adopted in Great Britain in the treatment of the psycho-neuroses of war' in the wake of WWI. Rivers suggests a variety of treatments for war-related psychological disorders, including hypnotism, and the possible link between of military duties and 'the neuroses of warfare'. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the history of psychology or in psychological disorders arising from combat situations.

The literature on trench journalism is well established for Britain and France during the First World War, but this book is the first systematic study in English of German soldier newspapers as a representation of daily life and beliefs on the front. Printed by and for soldiers at or near the front line these newspapers were read by millions of 'ordinary soldiers'. They reveal an elaborately defined understanding of comradeship and duty. The war of aggression, the prolonged occupation on both fronts and the hostility of the local populations were justified through a powerful image of manly comradeship. The belief among many Germans was that they were good gentlemen, fighting a just war and bringing civilization to backward populations. This comparative study includes French, British, Australian and Canadian newspapers and sheds new light on the views of combatants on both sides of the line.

The United States is in the midst of the largest military demobilization in its history. This is leading to an increase in the demand for mental health clinicians who can provide services to hundreds of thousands of military veterans and members of the military. Nearly two million Americans have been deployed to the wars in the Middle East, and thousands of them have been deeply affected, either psychologically, physically, or both. Projections suggest that 300,000 are returning with symptoms of PTSD or major Depression; 320,000 have been exposed to probable Traumatic Brain Injuries; and hundreds of thousands are dealing with psychological effects of physical injuries. Other veterans and members of the military without injuries will seek treatment to help them with the psychological impact of serving in the military, being deployed, or transitioning and reintegrating back into the civilian world. As an example, hundreds of thousands of service members are also leaving the armed forces earlier than they anticipated and will need to quickly adjust to life as civilians after assuming that they would have many more years in the military. Many will be leaving the military because of demobilizations and downsizing due to budget cuts. Current proposed cuts will shrink the military force to the same size it was in 1940. The Pew Center reports that 44% of veterans from the current wars are describing their readjustment to civilian life as "difficult," and many of them are and will be turning to civilian mental health and primary care clinicians for assistance. The Handbook of Psychosocial Interventions for Veterans and Service Members is a "one stop" handbook for non-military clinicians working with service members, veterans, and their families. It brings together experts from the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, veteran service organizations, and academia to create the first comprehensive guidebook for civilian clinicians. In addition to covering psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD, this book also offers information about psychosocial topics that impact military personnel and their loved ones and can become part of treatment (e.g., employment or education options, financial matters, and parenting concerns), providing the most recent and cutting-edge research on the topics. Chapters are concise and practical, delivering the key information necessary to orient clinicians to the special needs of veterans and their families. The Handbook of Psychosocial Interventions for Veterans and Service Members is an essential resource for private practice mental health clinicians and primary care physicians, as well as a useful adjunct for VA and DOD psychologists and staff.

How does religion affect the lives of professional soldiers? How does religion shape militaries, their organization, procedures, and performance? This volume is the first to address these questions by comparing religious symbols and practices in nine countries: Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, Israel, Iran, India, the United States, and Turkey. The contributors explore how and why soldiers pray, the role of religious rituals prior to battle, the functions that chaplains perform, the effects of religion on recruitment and unit formation, and how militaries grapple with ensuing constitutional dilemmas.

They were among the sporting elite of 1914 - the stars of the Northern Union - idolised by thousands of enthusiastic men, women and children up and down the land. Yet despite their heroic status in what was soon to become known as rugby league, these warriors of the playing field were willing to sacrifice their careers - and then lives - on the World War One killing fields, for King and Country. Other sports have honoured their Great War fallen over these past 100 years, producing Rolls of Honour to ensure that their ultimate bravery is never forgotten; not so rugby league - until now. The Greatest Sacrifice - Fallen Heroes of the Northern Union - rights that wrong. It tells the story of talented sportsmen who, when war was declared on 4 August 1914, duly departed for France, Belgium and beyond, never again to see the rugby league towns and grounds they once so famously graced. Among those who fell were three members of Great Britain's 1914 summer tour to Australia and New Zealand. A number of other former internationals died too, as did many more who had earned top domestic honours with their clubs. Some of the youngest players were just embarking on professional careers and therefore never able to fulfil their potential. Each player featured has a different tale to tell - from childhood to rugby stardom to enlistment into the British Army and, finally, the greatest sacrifice of all.

This book contributes important new insights into how deployment on international military missions affects soldiers and their lives. Using both quantitative data and in-depth interviews, the authors provide a longitudinal perspective covering the participants in these missions before, during, and after deployment on a large range of life outcomes. The research centres around four key themes; who are the men and women who choose to be deployed; why do they choose to be deployed; what challenges do these soldiers face before, during, and after returning home from a mission; and what are the consequences of deployment for the soldiers' individual lives? Danish soldiers provide an illustrative study and data is drawn from administrative registries and is supplemented with broader surveys of present and former soldiers, in-depth interviews of parents and other relatives, and support group professionals. Using specifically constructed datasets and comparing these soldiers with relevant control groups, this book offers a unique analysis of the impact of deployment on important issues such as personal finances, the labour market, criminal activity, smoking and drinking, and overall health. Mapping a full portrait of the men and women who choose to be deployed, and explaining both their initial motivations, this book highlights the challenges they face before and during deployment and upon returning home.

In many ways the German soldiers who marched back from the Western Front at the end of World War I held the key to the future of the newly-created republic that replaced the Kaiser's collapsed monarchy. To the radical Left, the orderly columns of front-line troops appeared to be the forces of the counterrevolution while to the conservative elements of society they seemed to be the Fatherland's salvation. However, in their efforts to get home as soon as possible, most soldiers were indifferent to the political struggles within the Reich, while the remnant that remained under arms proved powerless to defend the republic from its enemies. This book considers why these soldiers' response to the revolution was so different from the rest of the army and the implications this would have for the course of the German Revolution and, ultimately, for the fate of the Weimar Republic itself.