American Military History
Now in its third edition, American Military History examines how a country shaped by race, ethnicity, economy, regionalism, and power has been equally influenced by war and the struggle to define the role of a military in a free and democratic society.
Organized chronologically, the text begins at the point of European conflict with Native Americans and concludes with military affairs in the early twenty-first century, providing an important overview of the militarys role on an international, domestic, social, and symbolic level. The third edition is fully updated to reflect recent developments in military policy and the study of military history and war and society, thus providing students with a foundational understanding of the American military experience.
This book will be of interest to students of American history and military history. It is designed to allow instructors flexibility in structuring a course.
William Thomas Allison is Professor of History at Georgia Southern University. He earned his Ph.D. at Bowling Green State University and teaches courses on American military history, the Vietnam War, and war and society. He has been a visiting professor at the U.S. Air Force Air War College, the U.S. Air Force Command and Staff College, and the U.S. Army War College, and has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Military History, on the U.S. Army Historical Advisory Committee, and as vice-president of the Society for Military History. He is the author of several works, including Military Justice in Vietnam: The Rule of Law in an American War, My Lai: An American Tragedy, and The Gulf War, 1991, and is the series editor for Modern War Studies at the University Press of Kansas.
The late Jeffrey G. Grey was Professor of History at the Australian Defence Force Academy. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of New South Wales and held several visiting professorships, including the Major General Matthew Horner Chair in Military Theory at the U.S. Marine Corps University. His numerous publications include The Commonwealth Armies and the Korean War: An Alliance Study, A Military History of Australia, Australian Brass: The Career of Lieutenant-General Sir Horace Robertson, and Up Top: The Royal Australian Navy in Southeast Asian Conflicts, 19551972, as well as volumes for the Centenary History of Australia and the Great War series. He served as president of the Society for Military History and on the editorial boards of the Journal of Military History, the Journal of the Australian War Memorial, War in History, and the Australian Army Journal, as well as editor for War and Society.
Janet G. Valentine is a retired Associate Professor of Military History at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. A scholar of the Korean War and citizenship and military obligation, she earned her Ph.D. at the University of Alabama and worked as a historian for the U.S. Army Center of Military History, the U.S. Air National Guard History Office, and the U.S. Department of Defense Joint History Office, and has held teaching positions at the University of North Florida and Mississippi State University. She has served on the editorial board for the Journal of Military History and the advisory board for H-WAR.
Third edition published 2020
by Routledge
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The right of William Thomas Allison, Jeffrey G. Grey, and Janet G. Valentine to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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First edition published by Prentice Hall 2007
Second edition published by Routledge 2016
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Allison, William Thomas, author. | Grey, Jeffrey, author. | Valentine, Janet G., author.
Title: American military history: a survey from colonial times to the present/William Thomas Allison, Ph.D., Georgia Southern University; Jeffrey G. Grey, Ph.D., University of New South Wales/Australian Defence Force Academy; [and] Janet G. Valentine, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.
Description: Third edition. | New York: Routledge, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2019058336 (print) | LCCN 2019058337 (ebook) | ISBN 9781138735774 (paperback) | ISBN 9781138735804 (hardback) | ISBN 9781003001232 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: United StatesHistory, Military.
Classification: LCC E181 .A33 2020 (print) | LCC E181 (ebook) | DDC 055.00973dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019058336
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019058337
ISBN: 978-1-138-73580-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-73577-4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-00123-2 (ebk)
Visit the companion website: http://www.routledge.com/cw/Allison
For Jeffrey Grey
(19592016)
Mentor, colleague, friend
The American military experience is so distinctly woven into the history of the United States that it is, at times, difficult to separate the two. Such a notion is perhaps uncomfortable for some historians, but the fact remains that although American history has been shaped by race, ethnicity, economy, regionalism, power, and myriad other influences, so, too, has this experience been tremendously shaped by war and the struggle to define the role of a military in a free and democratic society.
Since colonial times, the people of America, including Native Americans, have spent a great deal of time at war. Well over one million Americans have perished in these wars. Americans have fought for land, trade, freedom, slavery, prestige, empire, democracy, and humanity, as well as vanity and hubris, to list but a few. Over time, the American people and their government have developed a distinctive way of thinking about, preparing for, and fighting wars. It is an exercise fraught with risk, sacrifice, and challenges that is always difficult and painful to undertake. And yet, we continue to make war.
War, naturally, plays a central role in this textbook, and in several instances, chapters are devoted solely to conflict. Other issues and events beyond war, however, also characterize the American military experience. The struggle between the tradition of militia and the need for a standing army, the evolution of civilmilitary relations, the advent of professionalism in the military, the nonmilitary uses of the military, and the militarys role in democratic society as a tool of international and domestic power, a social institution, and symbol of American prestige abroad are all also part of this experience. To gain a holistic appreciation of American military history, these themes and others must be examined in the context of American history.
