Books Received

General

Firefighters. National Fallen Firefighters Association. Edited by Joellen L. Kelly et al. Westport, Conn.: Hugh Lauter Levin Associations, 2003. ISBN 0-88363-106-7. Photographs. Illustrations.Index. Pp. 366. $75.00. This massive and lavishly produced paean to America's firefighters was produced in the wake of 9/11 for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and includes a short chapter on military firefighting units.

Germans and Indians: Fantasies, Encounters, Projections. Edited by Colin G. Calloway, Gerd Gemunden, and Susanne Zantop. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2002. ISBN 0-8032-6420-8. Photographs. Illustrations. Tables. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Pp. xi, 350. Paper. $29.95. A series of 17 essays explore the enduring fascination of Germans with American Indians. Focusing on the experiences of German missionaries, scientists, artists, and emigrants over the past 300 years, the authors "probe the historical and cultural roots of the interactions between Germans and Indians."

A History of Force: Exploring the Worldwide Movement Against Habits of Coercion, Bloodshed, and Mayhem. By James L. Payne. Sandpoint, Ind.: Lytton Publishing, 2004. ISBN 0-915728-17-6. Figures. Notes. Index. Pp. vii, 296. Paper. $23.95. A political scientist argues that media exaggeration of contemporary violence and an underestimation of the extent of violence in the past has led to the erroneous conclusion that the world is becoming increasingly violent; in fact, globally the cultural and political acceptance of and use of physical force is on the decline.

Incidents and International Relations: People, Power, and Personalities. Edited by Gregory C. Kennedy and Keith Neilson. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2002. ISBN 0-275-96596-1. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Pp. x, 194. $64.95. "This book supports the concept that people make foreign policy" and examines an eclectic set of eight incidents or crises in foreign affairs to demonstrate how they affected the broader decision making process. The decisions are mostly taken by European powers and rather recently; the list includes political actors and incidents from Lord Salisbury and the Boxer Rebellion to British reaction to the Italian Pirate Submarine Campaign of 1937. From the series Praeger Studies in Diplomacy and Strategic Thought.

The Invention of Peace. By Michael Howard. Hartford, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-300-08866-3. Pp. 113. $15.00. In a set of four brief but sweeping essays, the historian ponders why warfare persists in a world that, at least in the West since the Enlightenment, has declared war evil and taken steps to actively "invent" peace as a normal state of affairs. The answer is that peace is the product of modernization as experienced and promoted by the western, liberal nation state, and, as such, still faces resistance in much of the world.

Jack Aubrey Commands: An Historical Companion to the Naval World of Patrick O'Brian. By Brian Lavery. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2003. ISBN 1-59114-403-5. Maps. Illustrations. Glossary. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Pp. ix, 1982. $34.95. This nicely illustrated companion does not reference many particulars of O'Brian's multivolume saga in detail, but it does offer considerable information for the lubber on matters such as contemporary tactics, ordnance, life on board ship, historical background and the like.

Military Transformation and the Defense Industry after Next: The Defense Industrial Implications of Network-Centric Warfare. By Peter J. Dombrowski et al. Newport, R.I.: Naval War College, 2003. Figures. Tables. Appendix. Pp. 120. Paper. A technical report on the need for future adaptations on the part of defense industries in the face of transformations in the forthcoming "Navy after Next;" Naval War College Newport Papers No. 18.

Politics and the Russian Army: Civil-Military Relations, 1689-2000. By Brian D. Taylor. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-521-81674-2. Charts. Tables. Notes. Index. Pp. xvi, 355. $75.00. Noting the rarity of military coups in Russian history, the author argues that for the last 200 years, regardless of regime, the military has consistently sustained a culture which sees intervention...