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Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > Military life & institutions

Male Fantasies - Volume 2: Male Bodies: Psychoanalyzing the White Terror (Paperback): Klaus Theweleit Male Fantasies - Volume 2: Male Bodies: Psychoanalyzing the White Terror (Paperback)
Klaus Theweleit
R765 R726 Discovery Miles 7 260 Save R39 (5%) Ships in 12 - 17 working days
Wars and Soldiers in the Early Reign of Louis XIV Volume 2 - The Imperial Army, 1660-1689 (Paperback): Bruno Mugnai Wars and Soldiers in the Early Reign of Louis XIV Volume 2 - The Imperial Army, 1660-1689 (Paperback)
Bruno Mugnai
R933 R751 Discovery Miles 7 510 Save R182 (20%) Ships in 9 - 15 working days

During the 17th century, Europe experienced only four years of general peace: 1610 and 1680-82. This scenario of almost continuous strife provided the terrain for the rise of the standing professional armies. The states were eager to avoid a repetition of the chaos and destruction that had plagued Europe during the Thirty Years' War, and therefore invested in these larger, more powerful armies to reduce the risks and costs of war. Some historians considered this act to be one of the most important institutional developments of the early modern world. The permanent armies became an organic feature of the Old Regime, a symbol of its power and strength, the means by which the prince could defend his interest and play an active role in the International policy. In the opinion of many contemporaries, it offered an opportunity to exploit strategic knowledge, to examine the effectiveness of military tactics and become aware of the increasing importance of the overall organization of the army. It would allow the military classes to occupy a significant place alongside the major European powers. In this scenario, the Imperial Army represents an interesting laboratory, which involved the multicultural Habsburg's domains and the Holy Roman-Germanic Empire in the birth of one of the major standing army of Europe. The history, organization, uniforms and ensigns of the Imperial army and the 'Reichsarmee' are here presented for the first time in a single book, with a lot of unpublished iconography and data.

Atomic Energy Policy in France Under the Fourth Republic (Hardcover): Lawrence Scheinman Atomic Energy Policy in France Under the Fourth Republic (Hardcover)
Lawrence Scheinman
R3,370 Discovery Miles 33 700 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

Part I discusses the creation of the Commissariat a I'Energie Atomique and outlines its structure and function. Part II focuses on the development of military atomic policy. Originally published in 1965. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Judges and Generals in the Making of Modern Egypt - How Institutions Sustain and Undermine Authoritarian Regimes (Hardcover):... Judges and Generals in the Making of Modern Egypt - How Institutions Sustain and Undermine Authoritarian Regimes (Hardcover)
Mahmoud Hamad
R2,970 Discovery Miles 29 700 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Why do authoritarian regimes survive? How do dictators fail? What role do political institutions play in these two processes? Many of the answers to these questions can be traced to the same source: the interaction between institutions and preferences. Using Egypt as a case study, Professor Mahmoud Hamad describes how the synergy between judges and generals created the environment for the present government and a delicate balance for its survival. The history of modern Egypt is one of the struggle between authoritarian governments, and forces that advocate for more democratic rights. While the military has provided dictatorial leaders, the judiciary provides judges who have the power to either support or stymie authoritarian power. Judges and Generals in the Making of Modern Egypt provides a historically grounded explanation for the rise and demise of authoritarianism, and is one of the first studies of Egypt's judicial institutions within a single analytical framework.

Sedan to Saarbruck: the Franco-German War 1870-1871 Volume 1 - Uniforms, Organisation and Weapons of the Armies of the Imperial... Sedan to Saarbruck: the Franco-German War 1870-1871 Volume 1 - Uniforms, Organisation and Weapons of the Armies of the Imperial Phase of the War (Paperback)
Ralph Weaver
R772 R627 Discovery Miles 6 270 Save R145 (19%) Ships in 9 - 15 working days

The Franco-German War of 1870-71 saw the demise of one empire, that of Napoleon III and the birth of another, a German empire under the rule of the king of Prussia. Many books have been written on the campaigns and battles of the war, this is the first to centre on the armies themselves: how they were organised, how they were armed, what uniforms they were dressed in and how they were supplied with the essentials of war. Technical innovations changed the way armies behaved in the field, railways speeded up movement, the telegraph delivered orders in a fraction of the time and new weapons altered tactics used on the battlefield. How many uniforms did a Prussian soldier have and who made them? The newest and best uniform was reserved for ceremonial use and to go to war in! Other orders of dress were issued from regimental stores for parades, day to day wear, field exercises, fatigue duties and walking out. If a man had the cash, he could buy a uniform for going to the pub on Saturday night! And the French were not to be outdone, a description of a Guards' officer's kit lists nine different orders of dress, without including ball and evening dress. In France most uniforms were made by private contractors working to government contracts while Prussian battalions, squadrons and batteries had a depot company of artisans who made up soldiers' uniforms from government supplied cloth. Officers had their uniforms made by private tailors. Developments in armaments were not limited to the French, the chassepot rifle was a marvel and the mitrailleuse (a volley gun) could have been a war winner if used properly. The Bavarians had a mitrailleuse of their own design and they developed a modern rifle firing a metallic cartridge at a rate of 20 shots a minute. As well as recently published references, many contemporary works have been used either in their original form or now available as digital copies from French and German sources. Many English language sources have also been used, Australian, New Zealand and American newspapers all reported on the war for their readers. There were also many memoirs from soldiers, officers and men as well as diplomats, volunteers, combatants and those ministering to the wounded. Equipment is described as well as the medals many men wore on their chests. The colour section illustrates many of the lesser known uniforms worn during the war. Annotated reading list.

Born Fearless - From Kids' Home to SAS to Pirate Hunter - My Life as a Shadow Warrior (Paperback): Phil Campion Born Fearless - From Kids' Home to SAS to Pirate Hunter - My Life as a Shadow Warrior (Paperback)
Phil Campion 1
R345 R282 Discovery Miles 2 820 Save R63 (18%) Ships in 9 - 15 working days

The explosive true story of a gun for hire. 'Hard eyes stare out of massive beards, their faces marked by the scars of battle. With these guys their webbing looks like it belongs to them, rather than it's been hung on a pair of reluctant shoulders. There's not a word been said to us, but the ante has clearly been upped. There's a dark and sinister feeling in the air. It doesn't take a genius to figure it's about to kick off.' Former SAS soldier Big Phil Campion tells it like is in this brutally honest account of his insanely dangerous life as a private military operator. From playing chicken with a suicide bomber in backstreet Kabul, to taking on pirates with his bare hands, this is true-life action-packed drama at its best.

Red Platoon - A True Story of American Valor (Paperback): Clinton Romesha Red Platoon - A True Story of American Valor (Paperback)
Clinton Romesha
R511 R398 Discovery Miles 3 980 Save R113 (22%) Ships in 10 - 15 working days
Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, v. 1 (Hardcover): Ulysses S Grant Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, v. 1 (Hardcover)
Ulysses S Grant
R1,092 R950 Discovery Miles 9 500 Save R142 (13%) Ships in 10 - 15 working days

Known as the "savior of the Union" during the Civil War, General Grant went on to serve as the 18th president of the United States from 1869-1877. This first volume of his memoirs was completed just days prior to his death from throat cancer in 1885.

Contact!Unload - Military Veterans, Trauma, and Research-Based Theatre (Hardcover): George Belliveau, Graham W.    Lea Contact!Unload - Military Veterans, Trauma, and Research-Based Theatre (Hardcover)
George Belliveau, Graham W. Lea
R2,136 Discovery Miles 21 360 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

This book is a call to action to address the transition many soldiers face when returning to civilian life. It presents an arts-based therapeutic approach to dealing with trauma, exploring the development, performance, and reception of Contact!Unload, a play based on the lives of military veterans overcoming stress injuries encountered during military service. The book, which includes the full script of the play, offers academic, artistic, personal, and theoretical perspectives from people directly involved in the performances as well as those who witnessed the work. The play and book serve as a model for using arts-based approaches to mental health care and as a powerful look into the experiences of military veterans.

Academic Writing for Military Personnel (Paperback): Adam Chapnick, Craig Stone Academic Writing for Military Personnel (Paperback)
Adam Chapnick, Craig Stone
R349 Discovery Miles 3 490 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

"Academic Writing for Military Personnel" is written for members of the military who are either new to or re-entering the academic community and who need to familiarize themselves with academic writing. The authors, an experienced writing instructor and a retired military officer, show how persuasive academic writing enhances officers' effectiveness in their regular duties, especially as they reach more senior levels of service. They explain the differences between staff writing and academic writing, and outline some of the common errors military personnel make when transitioning from one to the other. The book's chapters outline the value of strong written communication skills, the research process, the writing process, academic referencing, and frequent grammatical and syntactical errors. Specific examples chosen with a military audience in mind are integrated throughout the book to provide the reader with relevant and practical guidance. The book concludes with a discussion on how officers can use the knowledge they have acquired through their professional experiences in their academic work. As the only comprehensive guide to effective academic writing designed specifically for military personnel, this book will be a crucial addition to the libraries of junior and senior officers in militaries worldwide.

Using Credit Cards 102 - Intermediates Growing Their Lives (Paperback): Joshua King Using Credit Cards 102 - Intermediates Growing Their Lives (Paperback)
Joshua King
R475 Discovery Miles 4 750 Ships in 10 - 15 working days
Animals in Combat (Paperback): Nigel Allsopp Animals in Combat (Paperback)
Nigel Allsopp
R562 Discovery Miles 5 620 Ships in 10 - 15 working days
Patriots for Profit - Contractors and the Military in U.S. National Security (Hardcover, New): Thomas Bruneau Patriots for Profit - Contractors and the Military in U.S. National Security (Hardcover, New)
Thomas Bruneau
R2,283 Discovery Miles 22 830 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

This book develops a new approach to the analysis of civil-military relations by focusing on the effectiveness of the armed forces in fulfilling roles & missions, and on their efficiency in terms of cost. The approach is applied to the United States using official documents and interviews with policy-makers. In addition to analyzing the impact of defense reform initiatives over the past thirty years, the book includes the recent phenomenon of "contracting-out" security that has resulted in greater numbers of contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan than uniformed military personnel.
While the book demonstrates that democratic civilian control of the military in the U.S. is not at issue, it reveals that there is little public control over Private Security Contractors due to a combination of the current restricted interpretation of what is an "inherently governmental function" and limited legal authority. This is despite the fact that PSCs have taken on roles and missions that were previously the responsibility of the uniformed military. Further, despite numerous efforts to redress the problem, current political and institutional barriers to reform are not likely to be overcome soon.

Nisei Soldiers Break Their Silence - Coming Home to Hood River (Paperback): Linda Tamura Nisei Soldiers Break Their Silence - Coming Home to Hood River (Paperback)
Linda Tamura
R837 Discovery Miles 8 370 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

"Nisei Soldiers Break Their Silence" is a compelling story of courage, community, endurance, and reparation. It shares the experiences of Japanese Americans (Nisei) who served in the U.S. Army during World War II, fighting on the front lines in Italy and France, serving as linguists in the South Pacific, and working as cooks and medics. The soldiers were from Hood River, Oregon, where their families were landowners and fruit growers. Town leaders, including veterans' groups, attempted to prevent their return after the war and stripped their names from the local war memorial. All of the soldiers were American citizens, but their parents were Japanese immigrants and had been imprisoned in camps as a consequence of Executive Order 9066. The racist homecoming that the Hood River Japanese American soldiers received was decried across the nation.

Linda Tamura, who grew up in Hood River and whose father was a veteran of the war, conducted extensive oral histories with the veterans, their families, and members of the community. She had access to hundreds of recently uncovered letters and documents from private files of a local veterans' group that led the campaign against the Japanese American soldiers. This book also includes the little known story of local Nisei veterans who spent 40 years appealing their convictions for insubordination.

Linda Tamura is professor of education at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. She is the author of "The Hood River Issei: An Oral History of Japanese Settlers in Oregon's Hood River Valley."

"An important book about significant wartime events, a group of heroic World War II veterans, and the anguished experience of a community coming to grips with its own social sins. It is a superb oral history, a compelling community history, and a cautionary story about what happens when a democracy goes to war." -William L. Lang, Portland State University

""Nisei Soldiers Break Their Silence" speaks to contemporary concerns about multiculturalism and diversity with an absorbing and powerful story that encompasses both U.S. military and civilian life and strategically links the past with the present in a manner that vivifies what William Faulkner meant when he said that 'the past is not dead, it is not even past.'" -Arthur A. Hansen, Professor Emeritus of History and Asian American Studies, California State University, Fullerton

Heroes and Cowards - The Social Face of War (Hardcover, New): Dora L. Costa, Matthew E. Kahn Heroes and Cowards - The Social Face of War (Hardcover, New)
Dora L. Costa, Matthew E. Kahn
R686 R593 Discovery Miles 5 930 Save R93 (14%) Ships in 12 - 17 working days

"This impressive study, based on a random sample of forty thousand Civil War soldiers both black and white, reaches important conclusions about their motivation and behavior. Its most significant findings emphasize the role of close social networks within companies and regiments in promoting combat performance, preventing desertion, and increasing survival rates in POW camps. Readable and accessible to nonspecialists, this book should find a wide audience among those interested in the Civil War as well as group behavior more generally."--James McPherson, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Battle Cry of Freedom"

"This remarkable book is destined to become a classic in social science. It addresses issues of supreme importance and timeliness--loyalty, betrayal, heroism, cowardice, survival, the challenges of diversity, and the benefits of social bonds. It rests on rigorous statistical analysis of an extraordinary historical archive, and yet it is so readable as to be unputdownable. It deals with a single epochal event in one nation's history--the U.S. Civil War--and yet its lessons are highly relevant in many other eras and societies, including our own."--Robert Putnam, author of "Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community"

"Dora Costa and Matthew Kahn built a social science laboratory from the enlistment and pension records of men who fought in the Union Army during the American Civil War. In that remarkable laboratory they have discovered how friendship, community ties, and social status alter our choices. Read "Heroes and Cowards" for its reliable science; savor it for how it honors the harrowing circumstances that made the science possible."--Michael Hout, coauthor of "Century of Difference: How America Changed in the Last One Hundred Years"

"Dora Costa and Matthew Kahn have written a superb book on bravery in the Civil War. Their work informs us not only about courage under fire, but about the many settings where people are called upon to act for a common good. This is a pioneering piece of social science."--Edward L. Glaeser, Harvard University

"In the remarkable "Heroes and Cowards," Costa and Kahn demonstrate how social bonds helped determine which soldiers would fight to the death and which would flee for their lives, which soldiers would survive the deadly prison camps and which would succumb. The authors utilize the tools of social science to serve, rather than obscure, the riveting accounts by Union soldiers--the heroes, the cowards, and those in between."--Claude S. Fischer, University of California, Berkeley

"With its excellent blending of qualitative and quantitative data, this is a significant contribution to Civil War history and, more generally, to military history. It will be of great interest to economists, historians and general readers, especially the large number still fascinated by the Civil War."--Stanley L. Engerman, coauthor of "Time on the Cross"

"Dora Costa and Matthew Kahn are two accomplished scholars whose work offers substantially new insights, on why men desert and how this affects them; on the experience of black soldiers during and after the war; and on the migration patterns of war veterans. The research behind this book is based on data that has not previously been used by scholars, and their use of that data is imaginative and revealing. "Heroes and Cowards" is a significant contribution to ourknowledge of how Civil War veterans coped with the stresses of war and their lives after 1865."--Roger Ransom, author of "The Confederate States of America: What Might Have Been"

""Heroes and Cowards" is a remarkable and impressive piece of economic history, a unique book that will interest a large readership."--Louis P. Cain, Loyola University Chicago

The East Tennessee Veterans Memorial - A Pictorial History of the Names on the Wall, Their Service, and Their Sacrifice... The East Tennessee Veterans Memorial - A Pictorial History of the Names on the Wall, Their Service, and Their Sacrifice (Hardcover)
John Romeiser, Jack H. McCall
R1,494 Discovery Miles 14 940 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

At the northern edge of the World's Fair Park in Knoxville, Tennessee, a striking set of thirty-two granite pylons stands as a monument to the tradition of military service in East Tennessee. The East Tennessee Veterans Memorialexplores the creation and significance of this commemorative monument, providing a window into the lives and courageous actions of the more than 6,200 men and women whose names are inscribed on the sobering markers. In this book, author John Romeiser, with the assistance of Jack McCall, showcases the stories of over 300 service members and their families, documented with public records, obituaries, and family recollections. In these pages, readers will find the accounts of each of East Tennessee's 14 Medal of Honour recipients, along with tales of a variety of other veterans from World War I to the present, people whose lives and deaths together form a microcosm of the armed forces. Richly illustrated with historical photographs, this ambitious undertaking delivers not only a compelling history of individual lives but also a broader sense of military history in the region and a contribution to the scholarship on the value of monuments as a means to honour the past.

Basic Training For Dummies (Paperback): R Powers Basic Training For Dummies (Paperback)
R Powers
R524 R414 Discovery Miles 4 140 Save R110 (21%) Ships in 12 - 17 working days

The easy way to prepare for basic training

Each year, thousands of young Americans attempt to enlist in the U.S. Armed Services. A number of factors during a soldier's training could inhibit successful enlistment, including mental toughness and physical fitness levels. "Basic Training For Dummies" covers the ins and outs of this initial process, preparing you for the challenges you?ll face before you head off for basic training..

You'll get detailed, week-by-week information on what to expect in basic training for each branch of service, such as physical training, discipline, classroom instruction, drill and ceremony, obstacle courses, simulated war games, self-defense, marksmanship, and other milestones.Tips and information on getting in shape to pass the Physical Fitness Test (PFT)All-important advice on what to pack for boot camp Other title by Powers: "ASVAB For Dummies Premier, 3rd Edition," "Veterans Benefits For Dummies"

Whether you join the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, or the Coast Guard, "Basic Training For Dummies" prepares you for the challenge and will help you survive and thrive in boot camp

Handbook of the Sociology of the Military (Hardcover, 2nd ed. 2018): Giuseppe Caforio, Marina Nuciari Handbook of the Sociology of the Military (Hardcover, 2nd ed. 2018)
Giuseppe Caforio, Marina Nuciari
R2,755 Discovery Miles 27 550 Ships in 9 - 15 working days

This new edition of the volume is presented on the wave of the success which had its first edition (2003). It is entirely updated to the current situation of the disciplines covered, and expanded with particular regard to the new missions, that have become the main challenge for the armed forces in these first decades of the new millennium, with new insights to technological development toward so-called cyborg warriors, new forms of leadership and changes in soldier's identity and organisational culture. It is compiled of documents coming from various researchers at universities around the world as well as military officers devoted to the sector of study. Covered in this volume is a historical excursus of studies prior to contemporary research, interpretive models and theoretical approaches developed specifically for this topic, civic-military relations including issues surrounding democratic control of the armed forces, military culture, professional training, conditions and problems of minorities in the armed forces, an examination of the structural change within the military over the years including new duties and functions following the Cold War.

Baring the Iron Hand - Discipline in the Union Army (Hardcover): Steven Ramold Baring the Iron Hand - Discipline in the Union Army (Hardcover)
Steven Ramold
R1,004 R800 Discovery Miles 8 000 Save R204 (20%) Ships in 10 - 15 working days

During antebellum wars the Regular Army preserved the peace, suppressed the Indians, and bore the brunt of the fighting. The Civil War, however, brought an influx of volunteers who overwhelmed the number of army Regulars, forcing a clash between traditional military discipline and the expectations of citizens. Baring the Iron Hand provides an extraordinarily in-depth examination of this internal conflict and the issue of discipline in the Union Army. Ramold tells the story of the volunteers, who, unaccustomed to such military necessities as obeying officers, accepting punishment, and suppressing individuality, rebelled at the traditional discipline expected by the standing army. Unwilling to fully surrender their perceived rights as American citizens, soldiers both openly and covertly defied the rules. They challenged the right of their officers to lead them and established their own policies on military offenses, proper conduct, and battlefield behavior. Citizen soldiers also denied the army the right to punish them for offenses like desertion, insubordination, and mutiny that had no counterpart in civilian life. Ramold demonstrates that the clash between Regulars and volunteers caused a reinterpretation of the traditional expectations of discipline. The officers of the Regular Army had to contend with independent-minded soldiers who resisted the spit-and-polish discipline that made the army so efficient, but also alienated the volunteers' sense of individuality and manhood. Unable to prosecute the vast number of soldiers who committed offenses, professional officers reached a form of populist accommodation with their volunteer soldiers. Unable to eradicate or prevent certain offenses, the army tried simply to manage them or to just ignore them. Instead of applying traditionally harsh punishments for specific crimes as they had done in the antebellum period, the army instead mollified its men by extending amnesty, modifying sentences, and granting liberal leniency to many soldiers who otherwise deserved the harshest of penalties. Ramold's fascinating look into the lives of these misbehaving soldiers will interest both Civil War historians and enthusiasts.

1982 Uncovered: The Falklands War Mapping Project (Paperback): Timothy Clack, Tony Pollard 1982 Uncovered: The Falklands War Mapping Project (Paperback)
Timothy Clack, Tony Pollard
R957 Discovery Miles 9 570 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

War and its legacy are traumatic to individuals, communities, and landscapes. The impacts last long beyond the events themselves and shape lives and generations. Archaeology has a part to play in the recording of, and recovery from, such trauma. The Falklands War Mapping Project delivers the first intensive archaeological survey of the battlefields of the Falklands War. The project is pioneering in its inclusion of military veterans as part of the core team and unique in being the first to take veterans back to the battlefields on which they fought. Forty years after the events of 1982, the project provides a detailed assessment of the character, location, and condition of structural features and artefacts. The project also develops understandings of the role played by conflict heritage - and of landscapes, finds, and past events - in the recall of personal and collective memories. This sumptuously illustrated book brings together the perspectives of team members, institutional partners and others. It showcases the varied and important contributions archaeology can make beyond understandings of distant events linked to therapeutic progress, coming to terms with traumatic experiences, living with the past in the present, and forging new memories, relations, and futures.

The Irish Brigade 1670-1745 - The Wild Geese in French Service (Paperback): D. P. Graham The Irish Brigade 1670-1745 - The Wild Geese in French Service (Paperback)
D. P. Graham
R561 R466 Discovery Miles 4 660 Save R95 (17%) Ships in 9 - 15 working days

Irish troops had fought for Louis XIV in the 1670s, under Irish officers who had little choice but to fight in foreign service, with the blessing of Charles II. With the accession of James II, and the religious politics of who might earn the English crown, they became embroiled in the Jacobite succession crisis, fighting in Ireland, then sent to France under Lord Mountcashel in 1689. With the fall of Limerick in 1691, Patrick Sarsfield led the second 'flight' of 'Wild Geese' to the continent, to fight in a war for the French, against the Grand Alliance of Europe, in the vain hope that their loyalty might warrant French support in a return to Ireland under a Jacobite king. From the Nine Years War, through the War of the Spanish Succession, and beyond, their descendents would be present at Fontenoy, Culloden and in the Americas, forever destined to fight for a cause and land which had changed beyond recognition. D.P.Graham explains the origins of the brigade and its regiments, the personalities who led them and formed their reputation, and the circumstances of their final dissolution in the aftermath of French Revolution.

The American Warfare State (Paperback): Rebecca U. Thorpe The American Warfare State (Paperback)
Rebecca U. Thorpe
R894 Discovery Miles 8 940 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

How is it that the United States-a country founded on a distrust of standing armies and strong centralized power-came to have the most powerful military in history? Long after World War II and the end of the Cold War, in times of rising national debt and reduced need for high levels of military readiness, why does Congress still continue to support massive defense budgets? In The American Warfare State, Rebecca U. Thorpe argues that there are profound relationships among the size and persistence of the American military complex, the growth in presidential power to launch military actions, and the decline of congressional willingness to check this power. The public costs of military mobilization and war, including the need for conscription and higher tax rates, served as political constraints on warfare for most of American history. But the vast defense industry that emerged from World War II also created new political interests that the framers of the Constitution did not anticipate. Many rural and semirural areas became economically reliant on defense-sector jobs and capital, which gave the legislators representing them powerful incentives to press for ongoing defense spending regardless of national security circumstances or goals. At the same time, the costs of war are now borne overwhelmingly by a minority of soldiers who volunteer to fight, future generations of taxpayers, and foreign populations in whose lands wars often take place. Drawing on an impressive cache of data, Thorpe reveals how this new incentive structure has profoundly reshaped the balance of wartime powers between Congress and the president, resulting in a defense industry perennially poised for war and an executive branch that enjoys unprecedented discretion to take military action.

The Soldier's Two Bodies - Military Sacrifice and Popular Sovereignty in Revolutionary War Veteran Narratives (Hardcover):... The Soldier's Two Bodies - Military Sacrifice and Popular Sovereignty in Revolutionary War Veteran Narratives (Hardcover)
James M. Greene
R1,287 Discovery Miles 12 870 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

In The Soldier's Two Bodies, James M. Greene investigates an overlooked genre of early American literature- the Revolutionary War veteran narrative- showing that it by turns both promotes and critiques a notion of military heroism as the source of U.S. sovereignty. Personal narratives by veterans of the American Revolution indicate that soldiers in the United States have been represented in two contrasting ways from the nation's first days: as heroic symbols of the body politic and as human beings whose sufferings are neglected by their country. Published from 1779 through the late 1850s, narrative accounts of Revolutionary War veterans' past service called for recognition from contemporary audiences, inviting readers to understand the war as a moment of violence central to the founding of the nation. Yet, as Greene reveals, these calls for recognition at the same time underscored how many veterans felt overlooked and excluded from the sovereign power they fought to establish. Although such narratives stem from a discourse that supports centralized, continental nationalism, they disrupt stable notions of a unified American people by highlighting those left behind. Greene discusses several well-known examples of the genre, including narratives from Ethan Allen, Joseph Plumb Martin, and Deborah Sampson, along with Herman Melville's fictional adaptation of the life of Israel Potter. Additional chapters focus on accounts of postwar frontier actions, including narratives collected by Hugh Henry Brackenridge that voice concerns over populist violence, along with stranger narratives like those of Isaac Hubbell and James Roberts, which register as fantastic imitations of the genre commenting on antebellum racial politics. With attention to questions of historical context and political ideology, Greene charts the process by which veteran narratives promote exception, violence, and autonomy, while also encouraging restraint, sacrifice, and collectivity. Revolutionary War veteran narratives offer no easy solutions to the appropriation of veterans' lives within military nationalism and sovereign violence. But by bringing forward the paradox inherent in the figure of the U.S. soldier, the genre invites considerations of how to reimagine those representations. Drawing attention to paradoxes presented by the memory of the American Revolution, The Soldier's Two Bodies locates the origins of a complicated history surrounding the representation of veterans in U.S. politics and culture.

Royal Netherlands East Indies Army 1936-42 (Paperback): Marc Lohnstein Royal Netherlands East Indies Army 1936-42 (Paperback)
Marc Lohnstein; Illustrated by Adam Hook
R336 R303 Discovery Miles 3 030 Save R33 (10%) Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Until 1945, Indonesia was a Dutch colony known as the Netherlands East Indies. In 1930, the area had over 60 million inhabitants and was a major exporter to Japan, providing some 13 per cent of its oil needs - second only after the United States. Following Germany's occupation of the Netherlands in May 1940, Japan decided to expand its influence in the Netherlands East Indies.

Defending the colony was the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL). This force, designed primarily for colonial policing, underwent a series of cutbacks in the interwar years before adopting a modernisation programme in 1936, which focused on building up a strike air force, introducing tanks and increasing the firepower of the infantry and artillery.

Fully illustrated with period photographs and full-colour artwork, this book examines the dress, insignia, equipment, organization and combat performance of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army as it faced the all-conquering Japanese forces in World War II.

Paying with Their Bodies (Hardcover): John M. Kinder Paying with Their Bodies (Hardcover)
John M. Kinder
R944 Discovery Miles 9 440 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Christian Bagge, an Iraq War veteran, lost both his legs in a roadside bomb attack on his Humvee in 2006. Months after the accident, outfitted with sleek new prosthetic legs, he jogged alongside President Bush for a photo op at the White House. The photograph served many functions, one of them being to revive faith in an American martial ideal - that war could be fought without permanent casualties and that innovative technology could easily repair war's damage. When Bagge was awarded his Purple Heart, however, military officials asked him to wear pants to the ceremony, saying that photos of the event should be "soft on the eyes." Defiant, Bagge wore shorts. America has grappled with the questions posed by injured veterans since its founding, and with particular force since the early twentieth century: What are the nation's obligations to those who fight in its name? And when does war's legacy of disability outweigh the nation's interests at home and abroad? In Paying with Their Bodies, John M. Kinder traces the complicated, interwined histories of war and disability in modern America. Focusing in particular on the decades surrounding World War I, he argues that disabled veterans have long been at the center of two competing visions of American war: one that highlights the relative safety of US military intervention overseas; the other indelibly associating American war with injury, mutilation, and suffering. Kinder brings disabled veterans to the center of the American war story and shows that when we do so, the history of American war over the last century begins to look very different. War can no longer be seen as a discrete experience, easily left behind; rather, its human legacies are felt for decades. The first book to examine the history of American warfare through the lens of its troubled legacy of injury and disability, Paying with Their Bodies will force us to think a new about war and its painful costs.

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