From Quills to Tweets: How America Communicates about War and Revolution

While today's presidential tweets may seem a light-year apart from the scratch of quill pens during the era of the American Revolution, the importance of political communication is eternal. This book explores the roles that political narratives, media coverage, and evolving communication technologies have played in precipitating, shaping, and concluding or prolonging wars and revolutions over the course of US history. The case studies begin with the Sons of Liberty in the era of the American Revolution, cover American wars in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and conclude with a look at the conflict against ISIS in the Trump era. Special chapters also examine how propagandists shaped American perceptions of two revolutions of international significance: the Russian Revolution and the Chinese Revolution. Each chapter analyzes its subject through the lens of the messengers, messages, and communications-technology-media to reveal the effects on public opinion and the trajectory and conduct of the conflict. The chapters collectively provide an overview of the history of American strategic communications on wars and revolutions that will interest scholars, students, and communications strategists.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Message, Messenger, Medium, and Political Environment Andrea J. Dew, Marc A. Genest, and S. C. M. Paine Part I. Introduction Committees of Correspondence and Early Newspapers Marc A. Genest 1. The Message Heard "Round the World" and the First American Political Campaign Marc A. Genest 2. Why Communications Mattered in the War of 1812 Troy Bickham Part II. Introduction Mass Circulation Newspapers, Magazines, and the Telegraph Marc A. Genest 3. The Communications Revolution during the US Civil War Martin J. Manning 4. The Cuban Junta in Exile and the Origins of the Spanish-American War Michelle D. Getchell 5. Narrating the War in the Philippines, 1899-1902 David J. Silbey 6. John Reed and US Perceptions of the Russian Revolution Bruce A. Elleman 7. Theodore Roosevelt's Verbal Insurgency against Woodrow Wilson in World War I J. Lee Thompson Part III. Introduction Early Mass Media: Print and Radio Marc A. Genest 8. Edgar Snow and Shaping US Perceptions of the Chinese Civil War S. C. M. Paine 9. Franklin D. Roosevelt and World War II Michael G. Carew 10. Selling a Limited War in Korea, 1950-53 Steven Casey Part IV. Introduction Mass Media: Print, Radio, Television, and Cable Marc A. Genest 11. How Presidents Explained Vietnam, 1954-75 David Kaiser 12. American Wartime Communication Strategies during the Gulf War Judith Baroody Part V. Introduction The Twenty-First Century Information Age: Print, Radio, Cable TV, Internet, and Social Media Andrea J. Dew and Marc A. Genest 13. Struggling to Overcome the Afghan Taliban's Master Narratives Thomas H. Johnson and Matthew C. DuPée 14. The Challenge of Outcommunicating the Islamic State Haroro J. Ingram and Craig A. Whiteside 15. Communicating the Global War on Terror from Speeches to Tweets Andrea J. Dew Conclusion: Tweaking the Tweets Andrea J. Dew, Marc A. Genest, S. C. M. Paine List of Contributors Index

About the Author :
Andrea J. Dew is the Maritime Irregular Warfare Forces Chair and Co-Director of the Center on Irregular Warfare and Armed Groups at the US Naval War College. Marc A. Genest is the Forrest Sherman Professor of Public Diplomacy in the Strategy and Policy Department at the US Naval War College. S. C. M. Paine is the William S. Sims University Professor of History and Grand Strategy at the US Naval War College.

Review :
This important new book, edited by three senior members of the Strategy and Policy Department at the U.S. Naval War College, contributes significant knowledge that will be of value to both scholars and practitioners in our information age. Keeping in mind that national security concerns launched and continue to propel the information revolution, From Quills to Tweets uses historical case studies of the United States across three centuries to strengthen our understanding of information as an elemental strategic dimension of war.