The hallmarks of America’s War on Terror have been repeated long deployments and a high percentage of troops returning with psychological problems. Family members of combat veterans are at a higher risk of potentially lethal domestic violence than almost any other demographic; it’s estimated that one in four children of active-duty service members have symptoms of depression; and nearly one million veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan require increased care due to physical or psychological trauma. But, despite these staggering trends, civilian America has not been mobilized to take care of the families left behind; the American Homefront, which traditionally has been rallied to support the nation’s war efforts, has disappeared. In Homefront 911 Stacy Bannerman, a nationally-recognized advocate for military families, provides an insider’s view of how more than a decade of war has contributed to the emerging crisis we are experiencing in today’s military and veteran families as they battle with overwhelmed VA offices, a public they feel doesn’t understand their sacrifices, and a nation that still isn’t fully prepared to help those who have given so much. Bannerman, whose husband served in Iraq, describes how extended deployments cause cumulative, long-lasting strain on families who may not see their parent, child, or spouse for months on end. She goes on to share the tools she and others have found to begin to heal their families, and advocates policies for advancing programs, services, and civilian support, all to help repair the broken agreement that the nation will care for its returning soldiers and their families. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history—books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

In Our Veterans, Suzanne Gordon, Steve Early, and Jasper Craven explore the physical, emotional, social, economic, and psychological impact of military service and the problems that veterans face when they return to civilian life. The authors critically examine the role of advocacy organizations, philanthropies, corporations, and politicians who purport to be “pro-veteran.” They describe the ongoing debate about the cost, quality, and effectiveness of healthcare provided or outsourced by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). They also examine generational divisions and political tensions among veterans, as revealed in the tumultuous events of 2020, from Black Lives Matter protests to the Trump-Biden presidential contest. Frank and revealing, Our Veterans proposes a new agenda for veterans affairs linking service provision to veterans to the quest for broader social programs benefiting all Americans.

A study of how doctors and surgeons treated the brutal injuries and illnesses suffered by medieval combatants. Soldiers of the Middle Ages faced razor-sharp swords and axes that could slice through flesh with gruesome ease, while spears and arrows were made to puncture both armor and the wearer, and even more sinister means of causing harm produced burns and crush injuries. These casualties of war during the 500-year period between the ninth and thirteenth centuries in Northern and Western Europe are the focus of Brian Burfield’s study, but they represent just a portion of the story—disease, disability, disfigurement, and damaged minds all played their roles in this awful reality. Surgical methods are described in the book, as are the fixes for fractured skulls, broken bones, and damaged teeth. Disfiguring scars and disabling injuries are examined alongside the contemporary attitudes toward them. Also investigated are illnesses like dysentery and St. Anthony’s Fire, plus infected wounds which were often deadlier than the weapons of the age. A final chapter on the psychological trauma caused by war is included and contains a significant focus on the world of the Vikings. Burfield’s account features many individual cases, extracting their stories of wounds, sickness, and death from chronicles, miracle collections, surgeries, government records, and other documents. The prose, poetry, and literature of the period are also of great value in bringing these cases to life, as is the evidence provided by modern archaeological and historical scholarship.

Using real stories, expert opinion, politics, psychology and the author’s own insights, Forgiveness explores the messy, complex and gripping subject of forgiveness. 'Cantacuzino's gift for empathy shines through her conversations... She tackles her complex [message] with clear prose and an open heart... This nuance feels like a cool breeze in a heatwave. If there is a message here, it's to listen more, think more and preach less' Sunday Times ‘This is an utterly memorable book – beautifully written, fascinating in its insights, and extraordinarily moving. We all need to forgive, and this book, through its recounting of the stories of people who have something really significant to forgive, will be an inspiration to help us reach a state of forgiveness. This is a book that will stay with the reader for a very long time’ Alexander McCall Smith I forgive you. Three simple words behind which sits a gritty, complex concept that is so often relevant to our ordinary, everyday lives. These words can be used to absolve a meaningless squabble, or said to someone who has caused you great harm. They can liberate you from guilt, or consciously place blame on your shoulders. Marina Cantacuzino seeks to investigate, unpick and debate the limits and possibilities of forgiveness, exploring the subject from every angle – presenting it as an offering, never a prescription. Through real stories, expert opinion and the author’s experiences, the reader gets to better understand what forgiveness is and what it most definitely isn’t, how it can be an important element in breaking the cycle of suffering, and ultimately how it might help transform fractured relationships and mend broken hearts. Forgiveness is a blueprint for how to live a more harmonious, richer life. 'Tender, valuable, and often beautiful, Forgiveness shows how we can get tabled up in hate, and how we might cut ourselves free' Gavin Francis

This volume investigates the perception of threat, with particular regard to the roles, functions, and agencies of various types of media. With a focus on the profound impact of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 on the US-American political, social, and cultural order, the chapters reach from the early days after the attacks up to the 2016 election of Donald J. Trump. An international team of contributors analyze how the perceived threats and their subsequent representations changed during this period and what part different forms of media - media institutions, media technologies, and media formats - played within these transformations. Media theoretical perspectives are thus combined with historical approaches to examine the "re-ordering" of the nation, the state, and society proposed in an increasingly converging, multimodal, and networked media environment. This book’s focus on the interrelation between Media Studies, Cultural Studies, and American Studies makes it an indispensable landmark for fields such as Historical Research, Media Theory, Narratology, and Popular Culture Studies.

With a new preface by the author on the Gaza war An unflinching exposé of the hidden costs of American war-making written with “an immense and rare humanity” (Naomi Klein) by one of our premier political analysts Every election cycle, candidates across the political spectrum repudiate what has become one of the most consequential and enduring components of American foreign policy: the forever war. Yet, once the ballots have been cast and the camera crews go home, the American war machine chugs along in almost complete obscurity. The journalist and political analyst Norman Solomon’s War Made Invisible is a “gripping and painful study” (Noam Chomsky) of the mechanisms behind our invisible, but perpetual, national state of war. From ever-compliant journalists serving as little more than stenographers for the Pentagon to futuristic military technology, horrifying in its destructive power, that makes dropping a bomb or pulling the trigger on a drone strike more of an abstraction than a moral calculation, Solomon’s “staggeringly important intervention” (Naomi Klein) exposes the profoundly human consequences at home and abroad of the bipartisan commitment to war making. In an era of increasing global instability in which it is all too easy to succumb to despair, Solomon pierces the “manufactured ‘fog of war’ . . . [and] casts sunlight, the best disinfectant, on the propaganda that fuels perpetual war” (Amy Goodman). Now in paperback with a new preface by the author on the Gaza war, Solomon’s incisive, ever-timely analysis “provide[s] the fresh and profound clarity that our country desperately needs” (Daniel Ellsberg) now more than ever.