The use and abuse of military history is the theme of this book. The author scrutinizes the army's first systematic attempt to use military history to educate its future leaders and traces the army's struggle, from the end of the Civil War, to claim intellectual authority over the study of war.

In assembling Gildersleeve's writings-- autobiographical, Richmond Examiner newspaper editorials, and Southern essays, Briggs (classics and humanities, U. of South Carolina) brings to light the reflections of a U. of Virginia classics scholar during the Civil War. His classical rhetoric lends a novel twist to his loyalist but critical views on the South's "Good Cause," in chastising the Confederate administration as well as critics of slavery and Yankee poet "sinners" against the English language. Includes a few bandw photos. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The traditional distinction between military and political affairs in American life has become less significant as military officers increasingly participate with civilians in the formulation of national policies. In an examination of the impact of this change upon professional military education, the authors present a forthright analysis of military responsibility today, the growth of education for policy roles, the form and content of that education, and its relation to the over-all duties of the armed forces. They have used hundreds of interviews and questionnaires and studied carefully the history and programs of the military academies, ROTC, Command and Staff Schools, Armed Forces Staff College, National War College, three service War Colleges, Industrial College of the Armed Forces, and other institutions. Originally published in 1957. 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.

Bernard Fall wrote the classics Street Without Joy and Hell in a Very Small Place, which detailed the French experience in Vietnam. One of the first (and the best-informed) Western observers to say that the United States could not win there either, he was killed in Vietnam in 1967 while accompanying a Marine platoon. Written by his widow Dorothy, Bernard Fall: Memories of a Soldier-Scholar tells the story of this courageous and influential Frenchman, who experienced many of the major events of the twentieth century. His mother perished at Auschwitz, his father was killed by the Gestapo, and he himself fought in the Resistance. It focuses, however, on Vietnam and on two love stories. The first details Fall's love for Vietnam and his efforts to save the country from destruction and the United States from disaster. The second shows a husband and father dedicated to a cause that continuously lured him away from those he loved. With a foreword by the late David Halberstam.

Matthew B. Ridgway was a significant figure in United States history. He commanded the 82nd Airborne Division in the invasion in Europe; he succeeded MacArthur in Korea; he was the U.S. delegate to the United Nations; he served as Supreme Commander of the Far East and Supreme Commander in Europe. He was counselor to four presidents, helped found a university research center on national security, and was a powerful influence in national affairs for 40 years. Using Ridgway's personal papers, George Mitchell offers a unique and compelling view of this authentic American hero.

In a classic work, Samuel P. Huntington challenges most of the old assumptions and ideas on the role of the military in society. Stressing the value of the military outlook for American national policy, Huntington has performed the distinctive task of developing a general theory of civil–military relations and subjecting it to rigorous historical analysis. Part One presents the general theory of the "military profession," the "military mind," and civilian control. Huntington analyzes the rise of the military profession in western Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and compares the civil–military relations of Germany and Japan between 1870 and 1945. Part Two describes the two environmental constants of American civil–military relations, our liberal values and our conservative constitution, and then analyzes the evolution of American civil–military relations from 1789 down to 1940, focusing upon the emergence of the American military profession and the impact upon it of intellectual and political currents. Huntington describes the revolution in American civil–military relations which took place during World War II when the military emerged from their shell, assumed the leadership of the war, and adopted the attitudes of a liberal society. Part Three continues with an analysis of the problems of American civil–military relations in the era of World War II and the Korean War: the political roles of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the difference in civil–military relations between the Truman and Eisenhower administrations, the role of Congress, and the organization and functioning of the Department of Defense. Huntington concludes that Americans should reassess their liberal values on the basis of a new understanding of the conservative realism of the professional military men.

“The Unforgiving Minute is one of the most compelling memoirs yet to emerge from America's 9/11 era. Craig Mullaney has given us an unusually honest, funny, accessible, and vivid account of a soldier's coming of age. This is more than a soldier's story; it is a work of literature." —Steve Coll, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Ghost Wars and The Bin Ladens "One of the most thoughtful and honest accounts ever written by a young Army officer confronting all the tests of life." —Bob Woodward In this surprise bestseller, West Point grad, Rhodes scholar, Airborne Ranger, and U. S. Army Captain Craig Mullaney recounts his unparalleled education and the hard lessons that only war can teach. While stationed in Afghanistan, a deadly firefight with al-Qaeda leads to the loss of one of his soldiers. Years later, after that excruciating experience, he returns to the United States to teach future officers at the Naval Academy. Written with unflinching honesty, this is an unforgettable portrait of a young soldier grappling with the weight of war while coming to terms with what it means to be a man.