The story of the United States could be told in terms of the frequency and impact of war and by the changes that occurred in the years after the cessation of hostilities. In this exciting analysis of some of the various conflicts that have engaged the energies and minds of American governments and presidents, contributors from Europe and the USA present case-studies which study both the phenomenon of war and its foreign and domestic implications. The essays cover:

On the seventeenth century: the origins of the colonial militia in Virginia, 1622–1677.

On the nineteenth century: the War of 1812 as a turning-point in the international and domestic history of the United States; an examination of the war-waging techniques of the Union President and three of its most prominent generals in the Civil War; and the war for the Union as a 'just' war.

On the twentieth century: a comparison of the aftermath of the two world wars; World War I and the political, cultural and intellectual significance of the campaign for compulsory health insurance; Theodore Roosevelt's ideas and policies concerning the military establishment; the impact of World War I on naval policy; the role of non-government agencies in the building of morale during World War II; marriages between British women and American GIs in World War II; the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Vietnam War; and the Vietnam War as 'the long shadow' over American life.