Includes accounts of civilians' roles and experiences through wars in twentieth-century Europe.

Long a topic of historical interest, wartime captivity has over the past decade taken on new urgency as an object of study. Transnational by its very nature, captivity’s historical significance extends far beyond the front lines, ultimately inextricable from the histories of mobilization, nationalism, colonialism, law, and a host of other related subjects. This wide-ranging volume brings together an international selection of scholars to trace the contours of this evolving research agenda, offering fascinating new perspectives on historical moments that range from the early days of the Great War to the arrival of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

Expert contributors write on the experiences of civilians who lived through occupation and bloodshed in the First World War; the Russians who lived or died during the the devastating civil war in 1917-1922, leading eventually to the terrors of Stalinism; the Spaniards of many factions who fought against each other in bloody civil wars; the ordinary people of France, Germany, Britain, Italy and other countries who faced the hardship and horrors of the Second World War; and the ethnic- and religious-based fighting and atrocities, often targeted at civilians, in the former Yugoslavia from 1991 into the twenty-first century. Carefully selected sources for further research help users find additional information on civilian life during these events. Expert contributors write on the experiences of civilians in the many wars of twentieth-century Europe. Among the events discussed are the Europeans who lived through occupation and bloodshed in the First World War; the Russians who lived and died in the devastating civil war in 1917-1922, leading eventually to the terrors of Stalinism; the Spaniards of many factions who fought against each other in bloody civil wars; the ordinary people of France, Germany, Britain, Italy and other countries who faced the hardship and horrors of the Second World War; and the ethnic- and religious-based fighting and atrocities, often targeted at civilians, in the former Yugoslavia from 1991 into the twenty-first century. Carefully selected sources for further research help users find additonal information on civilian life during these events. Chapters including vivid accounts of civilians' roles and experiences through wars in twentieth-century Europe are supplemented by recommended print and online resources for further study, a glossary defining important terms and concepts, and a timeline putting events into a chronological context.

Americans are greatly concerned about the number of our troops killed in battle--33,000 in the Korean War; 58,000 in Vietnam; 4,500 in Iraq--and rightly so. But why are we so indifferent, often oblivious, to the far greater number of casualties suffered by those we fight and those we fight for? This is the compelling, largely unasked question John Tirman answers in The Deaths of Others. Between six and seven million people died in Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq alone, the majority of them civilians. And yet Americans devote little attention to these deaths. Other countries, however, do pay attention, and Tirman argues that if we want to understand why there is so much anti-Americanism around the world, the first place to look is how we conduct war. We understandably strive to protect our own troops, but our rules of engagement with the enemy are another matter. From atomic weapons and carpet bombing in World War II to napalm and daisy cutters in Vietnam and beyond, our weapons have killed large numbers of civilians and enemy soldiers. Americans, however, are mostly ignorant of these methods, believing that American wars are essentially just, necessary, and "good." Trenchant and passionate, The Deaths of Others forces readers to consider the tragic consequences of American military action not just for Americans, but especially for those we fight against.

Wars cannot be fought and sustained without food and this unique collection explores the impact of war on food production, allocation and consumption in Europe in the twentieth century. A comparative perspective which incorporates belligerent, occupied and neutral countries provides new insights into the relationship between food and war. The analysis ranges from military provisioning and systems of food rationing to civilians' survival strategies and the role of war in stimulating innovation and modernization.

Civilians and War in Europe 1618–1815 is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary look at the role of civilians in early modern warfare, from the Thirty Years War to the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Drawing on works by scholars in art, literature, history, and political theory, the contributors to this volume explore the continuities and transformations in warfare over the course of two hundred years, examining topics central to civilian and war dynamics, including incarceration, cultures of plunder, billeting, and wartime atrocities, in addition to the larger legal practices and philosophical underpinnings of warfare and its aftermath. Showcasing the complex ways civilians were involved in war—not just as anguished sufferers, but as individuals who fought back, who profited, and who negotiated for their own needs—Civilians and War in Europe probes what it meant to be a civilian in countries deeply involved in conflict.

From British bombing in Iraq in the early 1920s to the most recent conflicts in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon, this detailed analysis explores the history of indiscriminate bombing, examining the fundamental questions of how strategies of mass killing originated and have been employed for decades. The book includes contributions from scholars in the US and Europe as well as a bold new argument by Japanese historian Tsuyoshi Hasegawa claiming that it was the Soviet invasion rather than atomic bombing that led to the Japanese surrender of the Pacific.