Decisions about when, where, and why to commit the United States to the use of force, and how to conduct warfare and ultimately end it, are hotly debated not only contemporaneously but also for decades afterward.

Rev. ed. of: From Lexington to Desert Storm and beyond. 2nd ed. 2000. Includes maps of: American Revolution - Major British Offensive Campaigns; Civil War - Major Union Offensive Campaigns; World War I - Major American Battle Locations; European-Mediterranean Theater - Major American Campaigns; Pacific Theater of Operations - Major American Campaigns; Korean War, 25 June-14 September 1950; Korean War, 15 September-25 November 1950; Korean War, 26 November 1950-24 January 1951; [Vietnam - Indochina]; [Iraqi and Kuwaiti Oil Fields]; [Afghanistan]; [Iraqi Oil Fields]; War of 1812 - Great Lakes Theater of Operations; War with Mexico. Revised edition of: From Lexington to Desert Storm and beyond. 2nd ed. 2000.

Introduction --- 1. War and Political Purpose -- 2. American Revolution -- 3. Civil War -- 4. World War I -- 5. World War II -- 6. Korean War -- 7. Vietnam War -- 8. Persian Gulf War -- 9. Afghanistan War -- 10. Iraq War -- 11. America's Minor Wars. War of 1812 -- Mexican War -- Spanish-American War -- 12. The American Experience.