Dr Brian Holden-Reid & Joseph G Dawson III 
Vistas of American Military History 1800-1898 

A team of leading American military historians here investigate the factors that shaped the United States Army in the nineteenth century.Throwing new light on its history, this deeply researched book explores a mulitplicity of themes. These include the social structure, command system and relationship with civil power which are all important in assessing its efficiency and behaviour in war; and the way the army is depicted in military literature and cinema which affects its social portrait.Deliberately exploring neglected themes, this key work includes discussion on:* the roles of the many volunteer colonels in the Mexican War, 1846-48* Robert Wettemann and the alleged ‘isolation’ of the US Army in the nineteenth century* John Ford’s famous ‘cavalry trilogy’ of motion pictures.Containing so much food for thought, for students of US history and military history this is an entertaining as well as instructional book.