Between War and Peace: How America Ends Its Wars

This is an excellent book. There are 15 chapters. Each chapter is an historical example written by an authority in the field. You can read the entire book from cover to cover, which i did, or you can read a chapter as a stand alone for a particular war or period of history. My specialty is in insurgency and counterinsurgency and so I added this as a personal filter and highlight as I read each chapter.The purpose of this book is " to examine how America's major conflicts have ended. The issue is of immense political and strategic import."From the Introduction: "war is never - or never should be - an end itself. Wars are fought to achieve results that political leaders decide cannot be gained by persuasion, negotiation or threat....So it is curious that in all the hundreds of books on war and military history, the manner and results of war's end have seldom been addressed in a rigorous and systematic fashion."

Not quite what I expected, but a good read, especially the item on Iraq. But, the book is good history. Perhaps a better read would be "How Wars End" by Gordon Rose.

Students of American military history will find the list of contributors to this collection of essays very familiar. That's because Colonel Moten has assembled a dream team of military historians to examine war from a fresh new perspective. I admit to skipping ahead to Coffman's chapter on World War I before going back to read the rest of the book. That's because I've used so much of his work in my own biography of Pershing's operations officer, MG Fox Conner. I recommend readers begin by spending a great deal of time studying Roger Spiller's introductory essay and the six propositions he lays out about the history of war termination. Afterwards, one can read the remaining essays from cover to cover, or treat this valuable resource as a buffet, with each chapter representing a concise summary of the war in question. Politicians and their advisors should keep this book handy on their shelves for ready reference.Ed CoxAuthor of Grey Eminence: Fox Conner and the Art of Mentorship

Begin with the end in mind....So obvious--yet so often overlooked in the stampede into wars....This book is the work of a first-rate group of professors and practitioners, focusing on the question: "How has the Untied States ended its wars, and how well has it accomplished its political aims and strategic goals in the past?"With 14 case studies, from the American Revolution through the ongoing war in Iraq, the authors offer differing points of view but share a strong sense of history and practical insight.This book is strongly recommended. Its service is not so much to offer easy or clear "answers," but to point toward hard but necessary questions at an important moment in history.