Synopses & Reviews
America's "small wars," "imperial wars," or, as the Pentagon now terms them, "low-intensity conflicts," have played an essential but little-appreciated role in its growth as a world power. Beginning with Jefferson's expedition against the Barbary Pirates, Max Boot tells the exciting stories of our sometimes minor but often bloody landings in Samoa, the Philippines, China, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Mexico, Russia, and elsewhere. Along the way he sketches colorful portraits of little-known military heroes such as Stephen Decatur, "Fighting Fred" Funston, and Smedley Butler. From 1800 to the present day, such undeclared wars have made up the vast majority of our military engagements. Yet the military has often resisted preparing itself for small wars, preferring instead to train for big conflicts that seldom come. Boot re-examines the tragedy of Vietnam through a "small war" prism. He concludes with a devastating critique of the Powell Doctrine and a convincing argument that the armed forces must reorient themselves to better handle small-war missions, because such clashes are an inevitable result of America's far-flung imperial responsibilities.
Review
Los Angeles TimesAnyone who wants to understand why America has permanently entered a new era in international relations must read [this book].... Vividly written and thoroughly researched.”
The Washington Post Book World
A fascinating set of case studies worth reading for the stories alone.”
National Review
This book is not only an eminently readable and entertaining narrative history of Americas small wars, but also is a serious analysis of current strategic challenges.... Boot is an exceptional writer and his engaging style is tailor-made for this type of narrative.”
The Washington Times
An outstanding addition to this body of literature.”
New York Review of Books
In its high-spirited early chapters, Max Boots The Savage Wars of Peace recalls Patrick OBrians Aubrey and Maturin saga.... In his concluding comments, Boot sets out a thoughtful list of lessons that should have been learned.”
The Economist
[Boot] tells the story with clarity and verve, rediscovering on the way some lesser-known American heroes.... Clear narrative plus such tales of daring-do are enough on their own to make this book enjoyable. But Mr. Boot is also trying to make a point about the present.... Enjoyable…Informative.”
Foreign Affairs
Max Boots The Savage Wars of Peace makes it possible to revisit that past imperial tradition and mine it for lessons that might improve the management of todays global order…by reviewing the nations past, he shows its future.... Thanks to Boots journalistic sense—he is editorial features editor at the Wall Street Journal—those lessons make for a great story and a compelling read. Boot combines a wide-angle perspective with an eye for detail.”
Business Times
A book that has become—very much like [Paul] Kennedys, [Francis] Fukuyamas and [Samuel] Huntingtons—must reading in Congress, the Pentagon and among Washingtons columnists and think-tankers.”
Slate
By collecting the best exploits from some of the most significant small wars between two covers, [Boot has] done a real public and strategic service.”
The Weekly Standard
Boots well-written narrative is not only fascinating reading, but didactic as well.... The events of September 11 give The Savage Wars of Peace an uncanny timeliness and sadly confirm almost all of Boots dispassionate warnings.”
Michael Barone, US News and World Report
Excellent.... There are some cracking good stories here—the exploits of Marine Corps legend Smedley Butler in China, the Philippines, Nicaragua, and Haiti—but also some important lessons.”
The Chicago Tribune
A rollicking…chronicle of 200 years of American war making.... Boots narrative bustles with engaging personalities and forgotten heroes.”
The Journal of Military History
What a pleasure to read a crisp preface that promises a fun read, and to have the rest of the book deliver. The Savage Wars of Peace is an entertaining jaunt through many of the expeditions, counterinsurgencies, and (insert your preferred term here) that United States armed forces have undertaken since the beginning of the Republic. Along the way the author offers political analysis that hits its mark time and again.”
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. 387-408) and index.
Synopsis
Reviewed and debated everywhere, this book has become a key volume in the case for a new policy of interventionism
Synopsis
A compellingly readable history of the forgotten wars that helped promote Americas rise in the last two centuries, The Savage Wars of Peace is a history of those smaller, undeclared wars and their importance in American international affairs.
Synopsis
While the major conflicts in American history have become all too familiar, Americas small wars” have played an essential but little-appreciated role in the countrys growth as a world power. First published in 2002,
The Savage Wars of Peace quickly became a key volume in the case for a new policy of interventionism. Max Boot shows how Americas smaller actionssuch as the recent conflicts in Bosnia, Somalia, Haiti, Kosovo, and Afghanistanhave made up the vast majority of our military engagements, and yet our armed forces do little to prepare for these low intensity conflicts.”
A compellingly readable history of the forgotten wars that helped promote Americas rise in the last two centuries, The Savage Wars of Peace is now updated with new material on the repercussions of Americas far-flung imperial actions and the impact of these ventures in American international affairs.
About the Author
Max Boot is a senior fellow in National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. His writing has appeared in many publications, and he has twice been a finalist for the Gerald Loeb Award. His previous book, Out of Order: Arrogance, Corruption, and Incompetence on the Bench, was published by Basic Books in 1998. He lives with his wife and three children in Westchester County, New York.
Table of Contents
Foreword to the Revised EditionPreface: Another American Way of War
Part One: Commercial Power
1. To Conquer Upon the Sea”: Barbary Wars, 1801–1805, 1815
2. Butcher and Bolt”: From the Marquesas, 1813, to China, 1859
3. Empire Emerging: From Korea, 1871, to Samoa, 1899
Part Two: Great Power
4. Red Summer: Boxer Uprising, 1900
5. Attraction” and Chastisement”: The Philippine War, 1899–1902
6. Caribbean Constabulary: Cuba, Panama, Nicaragua, Mexico, 1898–1914
7. Lords of Hispaniola: Haiti, 19151934; Dominican Republic, 1916–1924
8. The Dusty Trail: The Pancho Villa Punitive Expedition, 1916–1917
9. Blood on the Snow: Russia, 1918‐1920
10. Chasing Sandino: Nicaragua, 1926–1933
11. By Bluff Alone”: China, 1901–1941
Part Three: Superpower
12. Lessons Learned: The Small Wars Manual
13. Lessons Unlearned: Vietnam, 1959–1975
14. In the Shadow of Vietnam: The Powell Doctrine and Small Wars in the 1990s
15. In the Shadow of 9/11: The Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq
16. In Defense of the Pax Americana: Small Wars in the Twenty-First Century
Afterword to the Revised Edition
Exclusive Essay
Read an exclusive essay by Max Boot