U.S. Military History For Dummies

Introduction 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