On November 11, we celebrate Veterans Day to honor those who have served in the military and sacrificed their lives for our country. To commemorate this annual recognition of military veterans, the Florham Library created new displays of books and other information materials that explore the contributions made by military veterans throughout American history as well as a range of other issues that shape the history of the American military.
Acts of War: The Behavior of Men in Battle by
Examines the comradeship, isolation, terror, and excitement of war and its psychological effects on men. Based on verbal and written accounts of soldiers over the past 200 years.
The Art of War: Great Commanders of the Modern World by
"The Art of War: Great Commanders of the Modern World is an authoritative account of the lives and careers of the greatest military commanders of the period, from Cromwell to Konev, from Marlborough to Moltke, and from Petain to Patton. Every commander is profiled in a concise and informative 3000-word article which not only brings its subject vividly to life via a lively, fact-driven narrative, but also analyses and assesses his tactical and strategic gifts. Each biography is accompanied by a 'battle feature' or 'campaign feature' - embellished by a full-colour battle plan or campaign map - focusing on the commander's greatest battlefield achievement."--Publishers' description.
Brassey's Book of Camouflage by
Discover the first comprehensive history of world camouflage patterns ever published -- Includes First and Second World War designs and a complete description of the current patterns -- Features fifty color photos of the most famous and popular camouflage patterns Detailing the development of camouflage during World War I, Brassey's Book of Camouflage describes the evolution of patterns from the German army in World War II, to the famous "tigerstripe" pattern used by U.S. forces in Vietnam, and to the full range of patterns in use today.
Bringing the War Home: The American Soldier in Vietnam and After by 
A History of Warfare by
The acclaimed author and preeminent military historian John Keegan examines centuries of human conflict. From primitive man in the bronze age to the end of the cold war in the twentieth century, Keegan shows how armed conflict has been a primary preoccupation throughout the history of civilization and how deeply rooted its practice has become in our cultures. "Keegan is at once the most readable and the most original of living military historians . . . A History of Warfare is perhaps the most remarkable study of warfare that has yet been written."--The New York Times Book Review.
Integrating the US Military: Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation since World War II by
How have the US Armed Forces been transformed by integration? One of the great ironies of American history since World War II is that the military--typically a conservative institution--has often been at the forefront of civil rights. In the 1940s, the 1970s, and the early 2000s, military integration and promotion policies were in many ways more progressive than similar efforts in the civilian world. Today, the military is one of the best ways for people from marginalized groups to succeed based solely on job performance. Integrating the US Military traces the experiences of African Americans, Japanese Americans, women, and gay men and lesbians in the armed forces since World War II. By examining controversies from racial integration to the dismantling of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" to the recent repeal of the ban on women in combat, these essays show that the military is an important institution in which social change is confirmed and, occasionally, accelerated. Remarkably, the challenges launched against the racial, gender, and sexual status quo in the postwar years have also broadly transformed overarching ideas about power, citizenship, and America's role in the world. The first comparative study of legally marginalized groups within the armed services, Integrating the US Military is a unique look at the history of military integration in theory and in practice. The book underscores the complicated struggle that accompanied integration and sheds new light on a broad range of comparable issues that affect civilian society, including affirmative action, marriage laws, and sexual harassment.
Lives after Vietnam: The Personal Impact of Military Service by 
The Military Revolution: Military Innovation and the Rise of the West, 1500-1800 by
This is a new edition of Geoffrey Parker's much-admired illustrated account of how the West, so small and so deficient in natural resources in 1500, had by 1800 come to control over one-third of the world. Parker argues that the rapid development of military practice in the West constituted a 'military revolution' which gave Westerners an insurmountable advantage over the peoples of other continents. This edition incorporates new material, including a substantial 'Afterword' which summarises the debate which developed after the book's first publication.
New and Old Wars by
Mary Kaldor's New and Old Wars has fundamentally changed the way we understand contemporary war and conflict. In the context of globalization, this path-breaking book has shown that what we think of as war—that is to say, war between states in which the aim is to inflict maximum violence—is becoming an anachronism. In its place is a new type of organized violence which could be described as a mixture of war, organized crime and massive violations of human rights. The actors are both global and local, public and private. The wars are fought for particularistic political goals using tactics of terror and destabilization that are theoretically outlawed by the rules of modern warfare. Kaldor's analysis offers a basis for a cosmopolitan political response to these wars, in which the monopoly of legitimate organized violence is reconstructed on a transnational basis and international peacekeeping is reconceptualized as cosmopolitan law enforcement.
Paying with Their Bodies: American War and the Problem of the Disabled Veteran by
Christian Bagge, an Iraq War veteran, lost both his legs in a roadside bomb attack on his Humvee in 2006. Months after the accident, outfitted with sleek new prosthetic legs, he jogged alongside President Bush for a photo op at the White House. The photograph served many functions, one of them being to revive faith in an American martial ideal--that war could be fought without permanent casualties, and that innovative technology could easily repair war's damage. When Bagge was awarded his Purple Heart, however, military officials asked him to wear pants to the ceremony, saying that photos of the event should be "soft on the eyes." Defiant, Bagge wore shorts. America has grappled with the questions posed by injured veterans since its founding, and with particular force since the early twentieth century: What are the nation's obligations to those who fight in its name? And when does war's legacy of disability outweigh the nation's interests at home and abroad? In Paying with Their Bodies, John M. Kinder traces the complicated, intertwined histories of war and disability in modern America. Focusing in particular on the decades surrounding World War I, he argues that disabled veterans have long been at the center of two competing visions of American war: one that highlights the relative safety of US military intervention overseas; the other indelibly associating American war with injury, mutilation, and suffering. Kinder brings disabled veterans to the center of the American war story and shows that when we do so, the history of American war over the last century begins to look very different. War can no longer be seen as a discrete experience, easily left behind; rather, its human legacies are felt for decades. The first book to examine the history of American warfare through the lens of its troubled legacy of injury and disability, Paying with Their Bodies will force us to think anew about war and its painful costs.
Soldiers' Lives Through History: the Nineteenth Century by
This is the story of the evolution of the citizen army throughout Western nations during the nineteenth century and up through World War I. The French Revolution had brought to Europe the concept of military service as a citizen responsibility. Until then, armies and navies had been the province of the upper classes and of mercenaries, with authoritarian governments firmly in place that held little connection to the common person. As more democratic and republican governments developed during the 1800s, military service became not only a citizen's obligation, but for many, an honor. By the time of World War I, men and women-in more limited roles-were becoming willing to risk their lives for the goals of their countries.
War! What Is It Good For?: Black Freedom Struggles and the U.S. Military from World War II to Iraq by
African Americans' long campaign for "the right to fight" forced Harry Truman to issue his 1948 executive order calling for equality of treatment and opportunity in the armed forces. In War! What Is It Good For?, Kimberley Phillips examines how blacks' participation in the nation's wars after Truman's order and their protracted struggles for equal citizenship galvanized a vibrant antiwar activism that reshaped their struggles for freedom. Using an array of sources--from newspapers and government documents to literature, music, and film--and tracing the period from World War II to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Phillips considers how federal policies that desegregated the military also maintained racial, gender, and economic inequalities. Since 1945, the nation's need for military labor, blacks' unequal access to employment, and discriminatory draft policies have forced black men into the military at disproportionate rates. While mainstream civil rights leaders considered the integration of the military to be a civil rights success, many black soldiers, veterans, and antiwar activists perceived war as inimical to their struggles for economic and racial justice and sought to reshape the civil rights movement into an antiwar black freedom movement. Since the Vietnam War, Phillips argues, many African Americans have questioned linking militarism and war to their concepts of citizenship, equality, and freedom.
The Wounded Warrior Handbook: A Resource Guide for Returning Veterans by
The typical wounded soldier must complete and file twenty-two forms after an active-duty injury. To soldiers and their families coping with the shock and reality of the injuries, figuring out what to do next--even completing tasks that seem easy like submitting paperwork--can be overwhelming and confusing. The second edition of this popular resource guide has been thoroughly revised to reflect new policies, additional benefits, updated procedures, and changes to insurance, including traumatic injury insurance and social security disability insurance. New chapters cover veterans' benefits in depth--which have seen significant changes in the last two years--and returning to active duty after an injury. As in the previous edition, this guide directs you to answers and resources for the most pressing and difficult questions that wounded veterans face, such as: -Where can I find information on symptoms and treatments of injuries? -How do I get through all this paperwork? -Where can I get legal assistance? -What can I do for employment? -How do I get back into everyday life? -How can I return to active duty? -How do I deal with insurance? -What benefits are available to me, and how do I claim them? -What about my family? How can they help me? This trusted resource is both comprehensive and easy to use, and now the most up-to-date guide for wounded veterans and their families dealing with active-duty injuries.
