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Subject Area: Military Studies
Boulter, Roger Stephen2012 0-7734-2586-1 404 pages
This book reconsiders the life of former South African Defense Minister, F.C. Erasmus. Although an architect of the Nationalists' post-war election victory, he was not considered a minster of the first rank. Erasmus initiated a process of ridding the defense force of officers who he believed were associated with the government of Jan Smuts. Erasmus felt that the armed services had been too British in its ethos and appearance and wanted to create a force that was uniquely South African. However, without an immanent military threat, Erasmus never received a substantial budgetary allocation to modernize the military which left the military unable to assist the civil power in suppressing disturbances. Moreover, while Erasmus sought to cement South Africa’s relations with the West, he was unsuccessful in creating an anti-communist alliance for the land and maritime defense of Africa. This new biography looks at the events and time period that shaped this period of South African history in an attempt to correct misinterpretation of this period.
Carter, John J.
2012 0-7734-4067-4 240 pages
National security poses a dilemma to our democratic desire for political transparency. If the government gives away information about its covert operations then it will jeopardize national security. The paradox is that without national security agencies in a free society democracy will be threatened externally, and with them democracy is threatened internally. While this book does not resolve this dilemma it provides readers with more knowledge of this dilemma, and thereby gives them a fighting chance to work for at least its partial resolution by showing how Truman and Eisenhower utilized covert military operations to swing the tides of the early Cold War.
Davies, Jon
1995 0-7734-9034-5 182 pages
This study traces the long evolution of the male military-heroic tradition of the West and its reinvigoration by Christian theology and ecclesiology. It shows how this heroic tradition lies behind notions of national and gender identity, and how, with the shared symbolism of war remembrance and war memorials, this century comes to an end in an elaboration of a common, sacralised bellicognisant Eurochristian culture. It concludes with an analysis of the working out of this culture in debates about 'War Crimes', masculine concepts of 'Duty' and a war (The Gulf War) on Eurochristianity's frontier with Islam.
Berget, Wilbur C.
2008 0-7734-4918-3 500 pages
Written between 1941 and 1945, these personal, detailed letters serve as an important resource for World War II historians by illuminating the lives of ordinary soldiers.
DeGarmo, Denise
2006 0-7734-5549-3 216 pages
This book seeks to provide an examination of the history and consequences of the atomic legacy of St. Louis and the Metro-East by appealing to historians, WWII enthusiasts, environmentalists, as well as individuals interested in domestic and international nuclear policy. Dating back to the beginning of the “Atomic Age,” 2.5 million cubic yards of radioactive wastes have been dispersed throughout the St. Louis area. This waste resulted from atomic weapons work carried out by Mallinckrodt Chemical Works for the US government under secret contract. Between 1942 and 1966, over 300,000 tons of uranium had been processed in the downtown St. Louis and Weldon Spring plants. While bits and pieces of information regarding the atomic legacy of St. Louis can be found on a number of internet sites and in a few historical accounts of the Manhattan Project, to date there has been no comprehensive study of the secret contracting effort that made Mallinckrodt Chemical Works one of the most important contributors to the atomic bomb project. Nor has there been adequate discussion of the long-term consequences of this atomic program on the health and environment of the community.
Meilinger, Phillip S.
2013 0-7734-4465-3 400 pages
The Strategic Air Command (SAC) was formed to deter war against the emerging Soviet threat –and to fight and win a war if deterrence failed. This fascinating history of SAC will weave together six themes shaping the command during its first decade of existence: mission, message, education, technology, intelligence gathering and analysis, and leadership. All of these were crucial but the last is perhaps primus inter pares. General Curtis E. LeMay was the commander of SAC from 1948 to 1957. His leadership and drive were fundamental to the successful evolution of the command.
Whisker, James B.
1992 0-7734-9553-3 216 pages
This is a succinct comparative study of civilian militias, covering a vast amount of material frequently overlooked in conventional military history. Not only examines American, European, Asian, and Middle East militias, but also discusses the traditions of political thinking about the role of citizen soldiers as distinct from professional or mercenary military class.
Patterson, Alan
2012 0-7734-2940-9 216 pages
Written in response to the Bush Administration’s aggressive rhetoric previous to and during the Iraq War, this book addresses the key issues relating to Precautionary Principles on defense policies regarding pre-emptive war. Policymakers in the West seem prone to use these tactics when they feel there is certainly an outside threat to national security, and even when the threat is miniscule, after 9/11 American leaders in particular seem to err on the side of caution. Knowing the difference between a certain threat, a risky pre-emptive attack, and uncertainty could have informed public debate in significant ways. This theory is necessary now more than ever because our world system faces new and unknown threats that must be mediated by an international order.
Whisker, James B.
2024 1-4955-1304-1 118 pages
A very well developed study of Early American Military History. "England in the seventeenth century possessed a huge reservoir of manpower, which was so large that the king found it it impossible to train more than a small portion of it. What the crown was forced to do was train and equip only a force large enough to meet local emergencies and, possib1y but not probably, meet the threat of invasion. The Puritan colonists, by contrast, were initially few in number and under equipped while facing challenges both from other Europeans and from the native warriors."
Whisker, James B.
2024 1-4955-1305-X 118 pages
A very well developed study of Early American Military History. "England in the seventeenth century possessed a huge reservoir of manpower, which was so large that the king found it it impossible to train more than a small portion of it. What the crown was forced to do was train and equip only a force large enough to meet local emergencies and, possib1y but not probably, meet the threat of invasion. The Puritan colonists, by contrast, were initially few in number and under equipped while facing challenges both from other Europeans and from the native warriors."
Whisker, James B.
2024 1-4955-1294-0 124 pages
"During the colonial era, the militia system was linked to a fundamental concept of provincial citizenship. Along with church and governments, militia systems were considered to be one of three pillars of provincial society. The colonial militias constituted the primary instrument of defense for the American colonies. By the latter part of the 17th century, the militias had become more complex. ...The structures and functions of local militias and expeditionary forces continued to evolve through the series of imperial wars of the eighteenth century." -James Biser Whisker ("Introduction")
Oko, Okechukwu
2022 1-4955-1012-3 304 pages
"This book represents a theory of civil-military relations in Nigeria from 1999, when the country returned to democratic or more appropriately to civil rule, after several years of military rule which began on 15 January, 1966. ...It describes the relation between the military establishment and the political institutions, including the civil society, media, industry and other groups. ...[W]ith the return to civil rule in 1999, efforts were made to reform the armed forces...on how to conduct their affairs under positive control of the democratic authority. One of the profound virtues of Democracy is that it aspires to subordinate the military to civilian authority and vests control of the military in civilian leaders. Thus, the military is an agent of the State, to protect the nation's territorial integrity against internal and external aggression. However, in all matters involving the security of the state, civilian leaders must have the last word." -From the author's forward
Edgerton, Robert B.
2006 0-7734-5927-8 208 pages
This book examines human courage and cowardice in combat in many parts of the world in recent times and in the distant past. The result is an introduction to an essential attribute of humanity – the quest for self-respect and the respect of others. The first chapter examines the role of women in war, from the earliest days to the present time. It presents a detailed review of the “Amazons,” women warriors of West Africa. Chapter Two reviews warfare in Africa, particularly the shocking Zulu defeat of British regular troops in 1879. The next chapters discuss the “Charge of the Light Brigade” during the Crimean War, the epic battle of the Alamo, the War of 1812, the battle of Waterloo and the American Civil War, the Vietnam War, the Aztecs, Mayans, and Inca, and chapter eight reviews combat in India and Tibet. The final chapter looks at warfare in the world’s many small societies.