The Political Economy of American Major Wars (Undergraduate, AY2018-19)

POLS 4790: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF MAJOR AMERICAN WARS

Spring Semester AY2018-2019
Department of Political Science
University of Georgia
Athens, GA, 30602-1615

Classroom: 301 Baldwin Hall
Time: 2:30 - 3:20PM Monday, Wednesday, Friday

Instructor: Keith T. Poole

Office: Room 304D Baldwin Hall
E-Mail: ktpoole@uga.edu
E-Mail: sghunter@uga.edu
WebSite: Course Home Page

Office Hours: By Appointment

Requirements

Grades will be determined by three to four papers in the form of book reports. All the readings are required.

Book Review Assignment
How the Book Reviews will be evaluated

Book Assignments (Excel Spreadsheet)

At least 10 copies of each book will be on reserve in the library. We will take about two to three weeks discussing the books that give an overview of American Wars during the 20th Century. We will then cover those Wars with the highest death toll -- The Civil War; World War II; World War I; Vietnam, and Korea.

Course Outline

Introduction: Hubris.

Assignment:
- Hubris: The Tragedy of War in the Twentieth Century, by Alistair Horne (2015)
- America's War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History, by Andrew J. Bacevich (2016)
- Black Hawk Down, by Mark Bowden (1999)
- We Were One: Shoulder to Shoulder With the Marines Who Took Fallujah, by Patrick K. O'Donnell (2006)
The Civil War 1861-1865

Assignment:
- The Fall of the House of Dixie, Bruce Levine (2013)
- The Civil War, Bruce Catton (1960)
World War II 1941-1945

Assignment:
- With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa, Eugene B. Sledge (1981/2007)
- Midnight in the Pacific: Guadalcanal, the World War II Battle That Turned the Tide of War, by Joseph Wheelan (2017)
- Bloodlands, Timothy Snyder (2010)
World War I 1917-1918

Assignment:
- The Guns of August, Barbara W. Tuchman (1962)
- The First World War, John Keegan (1998)
Vietnam c. 1959-1975

Assignment:
- We Were Soldiers Once...and Young: Ia Drang - The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam, by Harold G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway (1992)
- Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam, by H. R. McMaster (1997)
- Hue 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam, by Mark Bowden (2017)
Korea 1950-1953

Assignment:
- This Kind of War, by T. R. Fehrenbach (1963/2008)
- Give Me Tomorrow, by Patrick K. O'Donnell (2010)