Sign-In
Cart
Scraping the Barrel: The Military Use of Substandard Manpower, 1860-1960
Paperback
Technology & EngineeringArmed Forces
Please select the version of book you would like to purchase.
ISBN10: 0823239780
ISBN13: 9780823239788
Publisher: Fordham Univ Pr
Published: Aug 14 2012
Pages: 372
Weight: 1.10
Height: 0.90 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
ISBN13: 9780823239788
Publisher: Fordham Univ Pr
Published: Aug 14 2012
Pages: 372
Weight: 1.10
Height: 0.90 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
It is a truism that history is written by the victors, and perhaps this is doubly so of military history, where the tendency is to relate the biggest battles, the most victorious and heroic deeds, the very best (or worst) of men. This book stands as a corrective to this belief.
Scraping the Barrel covers ten cases of armies' using substandard manpower in wars from 1860 to the 1960s. Dennis Showalter and André Lambelet look at the changing standards in Germany and France leading up to World War I, while Peter Simkins chronicles what happened with the Bantams, special units of short menused by Britain in the Great War. Often the use of substandard men was to answer the sheer need for manpower in brutal, lasting conflicts, as Paul A. Cimbala writes of the U.S. Veteran Reserve Corps in the Civil War, or to keep war-damaged men active; sometimes this ethos was used to include men who wanted to fight but who otherwise would have been excluded, as Steven W. Short writes of the U.S. colored troops in World War I. In the second World War it was to answer more dire exigencies, as David Glantz relates how the USSR, having suffered enormous losses, threw away many pre-war standards, reaching for women, ethnic/national minorities, and political prisoners alike to fill units. Likewise, Nazi Germany, facing many fronts and a finite manpower pool, was compelled to relax both physical and racial standards, and Walter Dunn and
Valdis Lumans look at these changing policies as well as the battlefield performance of these men. In relating the stories of the substandard (for the military), Scraping the Barrel is also a humanist history of the military, of the more average men who have served their countries and how they were put to use. It throws light on how militaries' ideas of fitness reflect the underlying views of their societies. The idea of disability has been constructed based on a variety of physical, yes, but also social standards: as a value judgment on groups viewed as lesser--the aged, the lower classes, and those of different races and ethnic identities. From the American Civil War, through World Wars I and II, through the U.S. Project 100,000 in the Cold War, substandard men have been mobilized, have served, and have fought for their countries. These men are the inverse of the elites who get the lion's share of our attention. This is their untold history.
Valdis Lumans look at these changing policies as well as the battlefield performance of these men. In relating the stories of the substandard (for the military), Scraping the Barrel is also a humanist history of the military, of the more average men who have served their countries and how they were put to use. It throws light on how militaries' ideas of fitness reflect the underlying views of their societies. The idea of disability has been constructed based on a variety of physical, yes, but also social standards: as a value judgment on groups viewed as lesser--the aged, the lower classes, and those of different races and ethnic identities. From the American Civil War, through World Wars I and II, through the U.S. Project 100,000 in the Cold War, substandard men have been mobilized, have served, and have fought for their countries. These men are the inverse of the elites who get the lion's share of our attention. This is their untold history.
1 different editions
Also available
Also in
Armed Forces
Countdown 1945: The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World
Wallace, Chris
Hardcover
From $11.99
Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest
Ambrose, Stephen E.
Paperback
$11.99
A Crisis of Peace: George Washington, the Newburgh Conspiracy, and the Fate of the American Revolution
Head, David
Hardcover
$14.99
The Last of the Old Breed: An Oral History of the Final Marines from World War II
Davis, Scott
Hardcover
$27.00
The Confederacy Myth: How an Insurrection of Slaveholders Tried to Destroy the United States
Williams, Connor
Hardcover
$28.50
The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777
Atkinson, Rick
Paperback
$21.59
Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest
Ambrose, Stephen E.
Paperback
$18.99
Countdown Battle of the Bulge: The 40 Days of World War II That Crushed Hitler's Last Hope
Wallace, Chris
Hardcover
$34.20
Losing Freedom: Socialism and the Growing Threat to American Life, Liberty and Free Enterprise
Blue, Linden
Dee, Laura
Paperback
$15.59
God Forgives, Brothers Don't: The Long March of Military Education and the Making of American Manhood
Craven, Jasper
Hardcover
$27.55
The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War
Gladwell, Malcolm
Paperback
From $10.99
Kennedy's Coup: A White House Plot, a Saigon Murder, and America's Descent Into Vietnam
Cheevers, Jack
Hardcover
$33.25
The Boys in the Light: An Extraordinary World War II Story of Survival, Faith, and Brotherhood
Willner, Nina
Hardcover
$33.25
Revolutionary Snipers: Washington's Frontier Commandos Whose Marksmanship Forged a New Way of War and Helped Win the Revolution
O'Donnell, Patrick K.
Hardcover
$28.50
Ortiz's War: The Allies' Secret Weapon Against the Nazis in France
Sanders, Katie
Reynolds, Nicholas
Hardcover
$28.49
Until the Last Gun Is Silent: A Story of Patriotism, the Vietnam War, and the Fight to Save America's Soul
Delmont, Matthew F.
Hardcover
$28.80
The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777
Atkinson, Rick
Hardcover
$38.00
We Are Soldiers Still: A Journey Back to the Battlefields of Vietnam
Moore, Harold G.
Galloway, Joseph L.
Paperback
$18.99
Send It: Canada's Snipers at War in Afghanistan
Cullen, Gordon
Nisbet, Barry C.
Bahmanyar, Mir
Paperback
$24.99
The Winter Army: The World War II Odyssey of the 10th Mountain Division, America's Elite Alpine Warriors
Isserman, Maurice
Paperback
$18.05
George Washington's One-Man Army: The Life, Legend, and Battles of Peter Francisco
Palmer, John T.
Hardcover
$32.95
The Making of the American Mind: The Story of Our Declaration of Independence
Spalding, Matthew
Hardcover
$31.34
The Trillion Dollar War Machine: How Runaway Military Spending Drives America Into Foreign Wars and Bankrupts Us at Home
Hartung, William D.
Freeman, Ben
Hardcover
$27.00
This Kind of War: The Classic Korean War History, Fiftieth Anniversary Edition
Fehrenbach, T. R.
Paperback
$31.30
Partisans and Redcoats: The Southern Conflict That Turned the Tide of the American Revolution
Edgar, Walter B.
Paperback
$12.34
American Spartan: The Promise, the Mission, and the Betrayal of Special Forces Major Jim Gant
Tyson, Ann Scott
Paperback
$19.99
Aberration in the Heartland of the Real: The Secret Lives of Timothy McVeigh
Painting, Wendy S.
Paperback
$23.70
Brotherhood of the Brave: From Boots to Brass, the Soldiers Who Have Shaped the US Army
Kingseed, Cole C.
Paperback
$25.95
A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II
Makos, Adam
Alexander, Larry
Hardcover
From $10.99
Those Who Face Death: The Untold Story of Special Forces and the Iraqi Kurdish Resistance
Grdovic, Mark
Paperback
$18.99
Henry Knox's Noble Train: The Story of a Boston Bookseller's Heroic Expedition That Saved the American Revolution
Hazelgrove, William Elliott
Hardcover
$34.95
Washington's Immortals: The Untold Story of an Elite Regiment Who Changed the Course of the Revolution
O'Donnell, Patrick K.
Paperback
$19.00
A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II
Makos, Adam
Alexander, Larry
Paperback
$23.75
Countdown Battle of the Bulge: The 40 Days of World War II That Crushed Hitler's Last Hope (Large Print Edition)
Wallace, Chris
Paperback
$36.10
PT 109: An American Epic of War, Survival, and the Destiny of John F. Kennedy
Doyle, William
Paperback
$18.04
Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest
Ambrose, Stephen E.
Hardcover
$30.40
Doom 34: A Firsthand Account of the Top-Secret Mission that Launched Operation Desert Storm
Morriss, Trey
Hardcover
$28.45
Pentagon 9-11: Scars You Can't See A Chief Master Sergeant's Reckoning with Truth, Trust, and Coming Home
Woody, Roger A.
Paperback
$15.15
Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany
Miller, Donald L.
Paperback
$21.85
Splendid Liberators: Heroism, Betrayal, Resistance, and the Birth of American Empire
Jackson, Joe
Hardcover
$35.10
No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden
Maurer, Kevin
Owen, Mark
Paperback
$19.00
The Indispensables: The Diverse Soldier-Mariners Who Shaped the Country, Formed the Navy, and Rowed Washington Across the Delaware
O'Donnell, Patrick K.
Paperback
$19.00
The Boys in the Light: An Extraordinary World War II Story of Survival, Faith, and Brotherhood
Willner, Nina
Paperback
$19.00
Shot Down: The true story of pilot Howard Snyder and the crew of the B-17 Susan Ruth
Snyder, Steve
Paperback
$18.95
George Washington's Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution
Yaeger, Don
Kilmeade, Brian
Paperback
$19.95
Surprise, Kill, Vanish: The Secret History of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators, and Assassins
Jacobsen, Annie
Paperback
$22.79
The Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard's Most Daring Sea Rescue
Sherman, Casey
Tougias, Michael J.
Paperback
$18.99
All-Star Quilts of Valor, 2nd Edition: 37 Patriotic Patterns from Star Designers
Quilts of Valor Foundation
Paperback
$28.49
The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn
Philbrick, Nathaniel
Paperback
$19.00
Hunting the Jackal: A Special Forces and CIA Soldier's Fifty Years on the Frontlines of the War Against Terrorism
Waugh, Billy
Keown, Tim
Paperback
$10.44
No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the Seal Teams to the Bin Laden Raid
Layden, Joe
Chesney, Will
Paperback
$19.95
Invisible Senators: The Hidden Legacy of America's First Black Senators and the Birth of Multiracial Democracy
Melville, Doug
Hardcover
$27.55
Fakers: A Top-Secret Tale of Phantoms and Forgeries on the Disinformation Front Line
Cormac, Rory
Hardcover
$50.74
Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man
Vladic, Sara
Vincent, Lynn
Paperback
$20.90
W.E. Fairbairn's Complete Compendium of Lethal, Unarmed, Hand-to-Hand Combat Methods and Fighting
Fairbairn, W. E.
Hardcover
$76.25
Thunder in the Mountains: Chief Joseph, Oliver Otis Howard, and the Nez Perce War
Sharfstein, Daniel J.
Paperback
$18.00
The Three-Cornered War: The Union, the Confederacy, and Native Peoples in the Fight for the West
Nelson, Megan Kate
Paperback
$18.99
Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage
Sontag, Sherry
Drew, Christopher
Paperback
From $10.99
The Last Stand of Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour
Hornfischer, Estate Of James D.
Hardcover
$28.45
The Boys of Winter: Life and Death in the U.S. Ski Troops During the Second World War
Sanders, Charles J.
Paperback
$21.80
The Pentagon's Brain: An Uncensored History of Darpa, America's Top-Secret Military Research Agency
Jacobsen, Annie
Paperback
From $12.99
Alone at Dawn: Medal of Honor Recipient John Chapman and the Untold Story of the World's Deadliest Special Operations Force
Longfritz, Lori
Schilling, Dan
Paperback
$18.99
Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution
Philbrick, Nathaniel
Paperback
$17.10
The Pueblo Revolt: The Secret Rebellion That Drove the Spaniards Out of the Southwest
Roberts, David
Paperback
$18.04
War Is a Racket: The Antiwar Classic by America's Most Decorated Soldier
Butler, Smedley D.
Paperback
$11.35
The Drillmaster of Valley Forge: The Baron de Steuben and the Making of the American Army
Lockhart, Paul
Paperback
$18.04
The Boys of Pointe Du Hoc: Ronald Reagan, D-Day, and the U.S. Army 2nd Ranger Battalion
Brinkley, Douglas
Paperback
$17.99
Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations Into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis
Jacobsen, Annie
Paperback
$21.84
The State and the Soldier: A History of Civil-Military Relations in the United States
Schake, Kori
Hardcover
$28.45
R.A.T. Fight: Rapid Assault Tactics Used by Elite Forces to Survive Real-World Violence
Dvorsky, Tomas
Paperback
$21.99
The Memoirs of General William Tecumseh Sherman: The Complete Annotated Edition
Sherman, William T.
Hardcover
$37.95
Military Ribbon Guide Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force & Coast Guard
Foster, Col Frank C.
Paperback
$18.69
On Desperate Ground: The Epic Story of Chosin Reservoir--The Greatest Battle of the Korean War
Sides, Hampton
Paperback
$18.05
Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10
Luttrell, Marcus
Paperback
From $11.99
The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour
Hornfischer, James D.
Paperback
From $10.99
Special Reconnaissance and Advanced Small Unit Patrolling: Tactics, Techniques and Procedures for Special Operations Forces
Wolcoff, Edward
Paperback
$23.70
Where Custer Fell: Photographs of the Little Bighorn Battlefield Then and Now
Barnard, Sandy
Brust, James S.
Pohanka, Brian C.
Paperback
$28.45
The Bulge and Beyond: The Things Our Fathers Saw-The Untold Stories of the World War II Generation-Volume VI
Rozell, Matthew
Hardcover
$43.74
Parachute Infantry: An American Paratrooper's Memoir of D-Day and the Fall of the Third Reich
Webster, David
Paperback
$22.00
So Others May Live: Coast Guard's Rescue Swimmers: Saving Lives, Defying Death
Laguardia-Kotite, Martha
Ridge, Tom
Paperback
$18.95
This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War (National Book Award Finalist)
Faust, Drew Gilpin
Paperback
$18.05
Founding Gardeners: The Revolutionary Generation, Nature, and the Shaping of the American Nation
Wulf, Andrea
Paperback
$21.85