The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power

The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power Max Boot Date: 27 May, 2003   —   $11.20   —   Book product page Rating:

"The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power" is a book I've been hoping someone would write for several years. As I've read through other books, I would come across tantalizing references to US military actions in places I had no idea we'd been. Max Boot puts them all together in one book and provides descriptions of the campaigns that are concise and fascinating. For someone who is interested in writing about military history (me, perhaps), but who doesn't want to write yet another WWII piece (me, again), this book is filled chock-a-block with a wealth of interesting campaigns, tactics, and characters from American history that are crying out for a full book treatment.

For instance, I had no idea the United States had military forces in China for almost one hundred years, or that we had invaded Russia, the Falkland Islands, and Indonesia. Amazing! There are also accounts of the early career of George Patton in Mexico chasing Pancho Villa, and accounts of the many exploits of Marine legend Smedley Butler in Cuba in 1898, China, the Philippines, Panama, Nicaragua, Mexico, Haiti, France, and chasing train robbers in the US.

That's the exciting part for me, but beyond being a primer of America's little known wars, Boot also gives us his opinion on why we lost the Vietnam war (our military doctrine was focused on fighting another WWII, not a counterinsurgency campaign) and why the so-called Powell Doctrine is inappropriate for the challenges our country faces in a 'war' on terrorism. Boot feels that the US military is not, and needs to be, ready to fight the "small wars" that have characterized the majority of US military actions since the founding of our nation. After reading General Wesley Clark's account of the Pentagon's lack of flexibility in the Balkans in the late 1990s, I think Max Boot is on to something there.