From the first interactions between European and native peoples, to the recent peace-keeping efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq, military issues have always played an important role in American history. Ways of War comprehensively explains the place of the military within the wider context of the history of the United States, showing its centrality to American culture and politics. The chapters provide a complete survey of the American military's growth and development while answering such questions as: How did the American military structure develop? How does it operate? And how have historical military events helped the country to grow and develop? -- Provided by publisher.

Early colonization and conflict, 1607-1689 -- Wars Imperial and regional, 1689-1763 -- The American Revolution, 1763-1783 -- Challenges in the early republic, 1783-1815 -- Expansion, 1815-1861 -- The American Civil War : Confederate defiance, 1861-1863 -- The American Civil War : Union triumph, 1863-1865 -- Transitions : force in domestic, frontier, and imperial contexts, 1865-1902 -- Early twentieth-century reforms and the Great War, 1902-1918 -- Transformations in the interwar years, 1918-1941 -- Mobilizing for the Second World War, 1941-1943 -- Winning the Second World War, 1943-1945 -- American national security in the early Cold War, 1945-1960 -- Confrontation in the Cold War, 1960-1973 -- From Cold War to Pax Americana to uncertainty, 1973-2012.