A team of leading American military historians here investigate the factors that shaped the United States Army in the nineteenth century. Throwing new light on its history, this deeply researched book explores a mulitplicity of themes. These include the social structure, command system and relationship with civil power which are all important in assessing its efficiency and behaviour in war; and the way the army is depicted in military literature and cinema which affects its social portrait. Deliberately exploring neglected themes, this key work includes discussion on: * the roles of the many volunteer colonels in the Mexican War, 1846-48 * Robert Wettemann and the alleged 'isolation' of the US Army in the nineteenth century * John Ford's famous 'cavalry trilogy' of motion pictures. Containing so much food for thought, for students of US history and military history this is an entertaining as well as instructional book.

A team of leading American military historians here investigate the factors that shaped the United States Army in the nineteenth century.

Throwing new light on its history, this deeply researched book explores a mulitplicity of themes. These include the social structure, command system and relationship with civil power which are all important in assessing its efficiency and behaviour in war; and the way the army is depicted in military literature and cinema which affects its social portrait.

Deliberately exploring neglected themes, this key work includes discussion on:

* the roles of the many volunteer colonels in the Mexican War, 1846-48
* Robert Wettemann and the alleged 'isolation' of the US Army in the nineteenth century
* John Ford's famous 'cavalry trilogy' of motion pictures.

Containing so much food for thought, for students of US history and military history this is an entertaining as well as instructional book.

Texans in World War II offers an informative look at the challenges and changes faced by Texans on the home front during the Second World War. This collection of essays by leading scholars of Texas history covers topics from the African American and Tejano experience to organized labor, from the expanding opportunities for women to the importance of oil and agriculture. Texans in World War II makes local the frequently studied social history of wartime, bringing it home to Texas.An eye-opening read for Texans eager to learn more about this defining era in their state's history, this book will also prove deeply informative for scholars, students, and general readers seeking detailed, definitive information about World War II and its implications for daily life, economic growth, and social and political change in the Lone Star State.

Ever since the Alamo, the military has been a vivid part of the Texas experience. Not until now, though, have scholars addressed the significance of that experience in one book. In The Texas Military Experience, prominent authors reevaluate famous personalities, reassess noted battles and units, and bring fresh perspectives to such matters as the interplay of fiction, film, and historical understanding. Edited and with an introduction by Joseph G. Dawson III, The Texas Military Experience offers the best overview of the subject available. The Battle of San Jacinto, exploits of the Texas Rangers, the Indian-fighting cavalry of the Texas High Plains, and the World War II campaign of the 36th Infantry Division up the spine of Italy all have formed part of the state's history and image. Other aspects of the military experience are less well known but have also contributed to Lone Star history: the role of Hispanics in the Texas Revolution, the contributions of African-American soldiers on the frontier, the activities of army wives in the late nineteenth century. The engaging writing styles of the various authors will make this book valuable to the reading public interested in popular aspects of the Texas military tradition, and the solid research will make it indispensable to scholars of military and Texas history.

Since 1798, when Congress authorized John Adams to employ the navy to capture armed French vessels preying on American shipping on the Atlantic coast, U.S. presidents have grappled with the crucible of war. Some have dealt with it skillfully while others have tended toward the inept. Some have wanted to exert their war powers while others have shied away from them. Some have been successful while others have not.

Never having had their authority clearly defined, the presidents, as commanders in chief, have been allowed to interpret the scope of their involvement in wartime decision making. The question of whether a president can order forces into combat against another nation has never been resolved and precedent supports both sides. "Essentially," says Raymond O'Connor, "the president can do whatever he can get away with."

"Commanders in Chief," offering an enlightening look at the president's constitutional and political roles during wartime, brings together the work of prominent historians. These experts analyze the war powers of the presidency as well as the wartime leadership of six presidents--William McKinley, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon.

Two of the authors take provocative revisionist views of their subjects. Lewis Gould asserts that McKinley delivered able and talented leadership during the Spanish-American War, while Robert Ferrell sharply criticizes Wilson's leadership during World War I. On the other hand, Warren Kimball emphatically confirms the high ranking by most scholars of Roosevelt as the most gifted wartime chief executive of the twentieth century, and Clayton James substantiates Truman's feisty and pragmatic leadership in two conflicts. In Frank Vandiver's essay on Johnson and Stephen Ambrose's on Nixon, the authors emphasize the diversity of challenges the two presidents faced during the controversial Vietnam War.

Revising and updating earlier studies, including "The Ultimate Decision: The President as Commander in Chief," the 1960 classic collection edited by Ernest May, this book offers a thoughtful and thought-provoking critique of the character and capabilities of America's modern commanders in chief and presents fresh insight into an issue that affects us all.

An on-the-spot history of a fight in the Pacific during World War II, "Island Victory" was the first battle history written by then-Lieutenant Colonel S. L. A. Marshall, a veteran of World War I who would serve in Korea and Vietnam and become a brigadier general in the process. After the Seventh Infantry Division drove across Kwajalein Atoll in the first days of February 1944, successfully wresting control of the strategic southern tip from the Japanese, Marshall was charged with producing an accurate and comprehensive account of the fight. His solution: bring the front-line soldiers together at once and interview them as a group, tapping the collective memory of a platoon fresh from battle. In this book, readers get a rare, firsthand sense of all the emotions that soldiers in combat experience. Numerous maps and photographs help us visualize precisely what took place. A compelling work of military history, and the first book of its kind, "Island Victory" is itself an important chapter in the history of how military exploits are described and recorded.

A strong addition to the existing military history reference literature and to its series. . . . Dawson's research guide is more useful than a standard bibliography, and much more thorough for the time period covered than [other] sources. . . . Dawson builds his guide around more than 1,100 bibliographic entries, many of which have brief, descriptive annotations. The citations, arranged topically in eight chapters, are drawn from books, periodicals, and dissertations. A ninth chapter covers pertinent government documents and manuscript collections. Author and subject indexes and four useful appendixes are included. There is a fine introductory essay: the preface lists and briefly describes 50 top secondary sources selected from the larger body of literature. These features truly enhance the bibliographic core of the book and make it a guide useful to general readers, upper-level undergraduates, graduate students, and scholars. Choice The period between the Civil War and the end of the nineteenth century was a time of hard choices for the U.S. Army and those who led it. The federal government thrust numerous responsibilities upon the military, including pacifying the Indians, patrolling the defeated Confederacy, suppressing striking laborers, and supervising national parks. This comprehensive bibliography focuses on this period of military history, cataloging, surveying, and appraising the substantial body of contemporary and historical literature that traces the evolution of the U.S. Army from 1865 to 1898. As the largest single-volume reference work of its type, the book covers all major aspects of Army activities, and contains annotations on 80 percent of its entries. Following a series foreword by Roger J. Spiller and a brief introduction, the volume begins with an extensive survey of government documents and manuscript collections. Included here is a wide variety of U.S. government publications pertaining to the Army, many from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Subsequent chapters group sources under bibliographic topics, such as general secondary works, fiction, and memoirs and contemporary accounts, as well as under subjects that refer to the Army's activities. These include the Army and Reconstruction, the Indian-fighting Army, forts and post life, the late 19th century Army, and coastal defense. A series of appendixes provides a period chronology, list commanding generals and secretaries of war, and chart army strength. A set of author and subject indexes conclude the work. The Late 19th Century U.S. Army will be an important addition to the collections of public and academic libraries, and a useful resource tool for courses in U.S. history and military history.

This book is an abridged edition of the critically acclaimed, three-volume "Dictionary of American Military Biography" (Greenwood Press, 1984). The scope of the original work encompassed a much wider range of people than soldiers; it included politicians, scientists, inventors, explorers, physicians, and humanitarians who had a significant impact on American military history. This new edition focuses on the most distinguished and important battle commanders in American history from colonial times to the present. Each essay incorporates the latest scholarship on the life under study, depicting the background, education, professional development, and accomplishments of the most notable practitioners of the art of war. Unlike most works of this genre, "American Military LeaderS" offers critical appraisals of its subjects. The essays were contributed by some 100 military historians. Cross references and bibliographies are provided. There is a new introduction and an enhanced reference index.

This careful abridgement of an acknowledged classic guide to military history can be used as a supplementary text for courses on the evolution of war and American military history. Professional soldiers will welcome its emphasis on battlefield warriors and military history buffs will find it both insightful and enjoyable reading.