Description
Book SynopsisWant to know more about American military history? U.S. Military History For Dummies presents concise and revealing accounts of all of the nation's armed conflicts from the French and Indian War to Iraq. It explains how the U.S. military is organized and how its branches operate, both independently and together.
Table of ContentsIntroduction 1
Part I: The Nitty-Gritty of U.S Military History 7
Chapter 1: Why This Stuff Is Important 9
Chapter 2: Why America Goes to War and Who We Fight 17
Chapter 3: Meeting the Players 29
Chapter 4: Lining Up the Armed Services 41
Chapter 5: The Changing Experience of Warfare 53
Part II: Born in War 65
Chapter 6: When the English Were Our Friends: Battling the Indians and the French 67
Chapter 7: So You Want to Start a Revolution: The War for Independence 79
Chapter 8: War and Peace: Battling Indians, Old Friends, Tax Delinquents, and Pirates 97
Chapter 9: We Have Met the Enemy: The War of 1812 .107
Part III: Forged in War 121
Chapter 10: To the Halls of Montezuma: Fighting Mexico 123
Chapter 11: The Civil War 137
Chapter 12: The “Indian Wars”: The Army Secures the Frontier 159
Chapter 13: “Remember the Maine!” Fighting Spain and the Filipinos 171
Part IV Going Global: The World Wars 185
Chapter 14: Over There: The First World War 187
Chapter 15: The Looming Crisis: World War II before American Involvement 205
Chapter 16: The Greatest War: World War II 221
Part V: Bearing Any Burden: The Cold War and the Unpaid Peace Dividend 243
Chapter 17: Toying with Nuclear Armageddon: The Cold War Years 245
Chapter 18: Hot War in Asia: The Korean War 261
Chapter 19: The Very Long War: Vietnam 277
Chapter 20: A War with Allies: The Persian Gulf War 297
Chapter 21: The Long War Ahead: Terrorism, Afghanistan, and Iraq 313
Part VI: The Part of Tens 329
Chapter 22: The Ten Best Generals in U.S Military History 331
Chapter 23: The Ten Worst Generals in U.S Military History 337
Chapter 24: The Ten Best Movies on U.S Military History 343
Index 349
