The Regulars: The American Army, 1898-1941

Table of Contents:
Prologue 1. The Army Begins a New Era 2. The Colonial Army 3. Life and Training in the Philippines 4. Enlisted Men in the New Army 5. The Managerial Revolution 6. The War to End All Wars 7. The Army in Limbo 8. Soldiering in the 1920s and 1930s 9. The Army in Pacific Outposts, 1919-1940 10. Mobilizing for War Postscript Essay on Sources and Acknowledgments Notes Index

About the Author :
Edward M. Coffman is Professor of History, Emeritus, at University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Review :
The officers and enlisted men of the U.S. Army were not typical of their countrymen. They moved frequently, often to unlikely places. They lived under comprehensive regulation, where a playground fight or a spouses' quarrel could shape an entire career. And they accepted an ethic of duty and responsibility in many ways anomalous in a country built on individual freedoms and rights...If WWII saw the emergence of America's 'greatest generation,' its framework was provided by Coffman's regulars, wonderfully described here. Publishers Weekly 20040209 The second volume of Coffman's magisterial social history of the U.S. Army covers the period from the Spanish-American War to Pearl Harbor...[His] clear narrative does full justice to the army's invaluable school system, the African American units, the transpacific troop transports, and other sometimes ignored themes...Coffman's now two-volume work in turn must be reckoned the outstanding social history of the U.S. Army. -- Roland Green Booklist 20040315 This is an exceptionally gracefully written, scrupulously researched, professionally objective, endlessly interesting administrative and social history of a crucial 40 years for the U.S. Army. -- Alan Gropman Washington Sunday Times 20040425 Good histories of military organizations frequently involve extensive investigation of military society and military culture. The methodologies applied by social and cultural historians to other groups can be applied effectively to the military--provided that the historian has made the effort to understand the military's idiosyncrasies. Edward M. Coffman's The Regulars, an account of the transformation of the US army between the end of the nineteenth century and the outbreak of the Second World War, demonstrates that factors such as social support for the military and the transition from an anti-intellectual culture to one that prized education helped turn a small, poorly organized army into a much larger and more competent force. -- Mark Moyar Historical Journal 20070101