"The purpose of this book is to change all the rules that limit the way we talk about the military ... It will tell the rest of the story conveniently left out in all the partial, misleading discussions we have had in recent years on subjects such as military recruiting and the shared obligations of citizenship; the nature of the relationship we want to have between the military and civilian America; the meaning of the Constitution for members of the military in the areas of equal protection, free speech, religions freedom, and respect for the rule of law; the proper scope of military influence in civilian society and the proper scope of civilian influence in military society; the cultural flash point of women in military service; and, finally, the post-Vietnam drift toward a politically partisan military and the impact it has had on civilian control of the military"--Page 5.

Slam-dunked law professors --A canary in the civil-military mine -- Inventing the civil-military divide -- Justice Rehnquist's Vietnam War -- Constitutional bargains and military ethics -- Facing the consequences -- A dangerous disregard for law -- Recruiting for a constitutionally fragile military -- It never was about the mission -- How long can you still call it an experiment? -- A cautionary tale about military voting -- A part of America, not apart from America.