AMERICA’S WARS

America’s Wars

Over the past few months, the library has sponsored a monthly book discussion group based on the ten major wars the United States has been involved in since its inception. The books were read in chronological order and are as follows:

1. Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation
Joseph J. Ellis.
While the American Revolution was won on the battlefields New England and Virginia, the American government was established in equally interesting political battles between the founding brothers. Their arguments, compromises and solutions created the institutions that have stood for over 225 years.

2. The Burning of Washington: The British Invasion of 1814
Anthony S. Pitch.
The author tells the dramatic story of the British invasion of Washington during the War of 1812. This episode has been called by many a defining moment in the coming-of-age of the United States.

3. So Far from God: U. S. War With Mexico, 1846-1848
John S. D. Eisenhower.
The Mexican-American War of the 1840’s ended with the occupation of Mexico City and a subsequent treaty that ceded territory to the U. S. that would become California, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Texas and parts of Wyoming and Colorado. This highly readable accounts provides a survey of this frequently overlooked episode in American history.

4. April 1865: The Month That Saved America
Jay Winik.
April 1865 was a month that could have unraveled the nation. Instead, it saved it. It was not inevitable that the Civil War would end as it did or that it would end at all. The author writes about the fall of Richmond, the Lincoln assassination and other events that came close to plunging the country into chaos and the leaders who brought the country back from the brink.

5. 1898: The Birth of the American Century
David Traxel,
The 20th century may have begun in the year 1901, but the American Century actually began three years earlier with the beginning of the Spanish-American War. It marked the emergence, both militarily and economically, of the United States as a world power.

6. The First World War
John Keegan.
The Great War created the modern world. A conflict of unprecedented ferocity, it abruptly ended the relative peace and prosperity of the Victorian Era. By its end, three great empires had collapsed and the seeds for the next world war had been planted.

7. Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II’s Greatest Rescue Mission
Hampton Sides.
On January 28, 1945, 121 hand-selected troops from the elite U. S. Army 6th Ranger Battalion slipped behind enemy lines in the Philippines in order to rescue 513 Allied POW’s who faced execution by the Japanese captors. The author captures both the excitement and the poignancy of the mission.

8. The Coldest War: A Memoir of Korea
James Brady.
America’s “forgotten” war lasted just thirty-seven months, yet over 54,000 Americans died during the conflict—nearly as many as died during ten years in Vietnam. James Brady tells the story of his life as a young marine lieutenant in Korea.

9. We Were Soldiers Once…and Young: Ia Drang-the Battle that Changed the War in Vietnam
Harold G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway.
In November 1965, some 450 men of the 1st Division, 7th Cavalry under the command of Lt. Col. Hal Moore, were dropped by helicopter into a small clearing in the Ia Drang Valley. They were immediately surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese soldiers. How there men persevered makes a vivid portrait of war at its most inspiring and devastating.

10. Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War
Rick Atkinson.
The author covered the war as a reporter and has here pieced together a definitive account of the conflict. As Atkinson expertly weaves together individual stories into a thrilling epic narrative, we come to understand that the allied campaign against Iraq was a wholly new and different kind of war, one that transformed the very nature of modern warfare.

Another book discussion group is being planned to begin in the fall of 2003. In keeping with the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition, the theme of the next program will be the great explorers of world history. Please consult the September issue of the newsletter for details.

Other America's History Book Discussion Titles

[America's Wars] | [America's Generals] [America's Traitors]
[America's World] [America's Business] [America's West]
[America's Writers] [America's Mavericks]
[America's Building Projects]

[HOME]

Sachem Public Library
150 Holbrook Road
Holbrook, New York 11741
USA