Reviews
""This provocative book issues a scalding indictment of America's foreign policy blunders across the long twentieth century. Whether motivated by ignorance, political calculation, or national arrogance, the United States entered into wars in the Philippines, Vietnam, and Iraq on false pretenses and reaped the bitter fruits of defeat. Contosta's research is thorough and his analysis piercing, resulting in an object lesson in why politicians, generals, and citizens should ask hard questions and think deeply before rushing into wars that will drain the national treasury and bring sorrow to American families, especially when no fundamental interests are at stake. Presidents should keep this book on their bedside table lest they be tempted to launch another needless war without realizing the potential consequences." --Thomas A. Chambers, professor of history, Niagara University, and author of Memories of War: Visiting Battlegrounds and Bonefields in the Early American Republic"A tract for the times, Contosta's book is a sober reappraisal of the deformation of American foreign policy over the last century. Republicans and Democrats alike have fallen into the trap of using military force at moments when the country was not in imminent danger of attack. God help us if we repeat these catastrophic errors today or tomorrow." --Jay Winter, Charles J. Stille Professor of History Emeritus, Yale University"In America's Needless Wars, David R. Contosta earnestly examines three pivotal conflicts in US history--ill-fated military ventures born of hubris and misconception, which culminated in tragedy and disillusionment." -- Gregg Jones, author of Honor in the Dust: Theodore Roosevelt, War in the Philippines"A 'splendid little book,' to paraphrase one of its subjects. Thoughtful, provocative, readable, and full of arresting details--Ho Chi Minh playing 'The Star-Spangled Banner,' or the origins of waterboarding in the Philippine-American War. You can agree or disagree with Contosta, but his account of three seemingly different conflicts, across three centuries, will leave you convinced that history really does "rhyme." And that ultimately the biggest threat to American power and prestige--past, present, and future--may be when policy makers, media, and citizens fail to ask the hard questions." --Joseph Torsella, US Ambassador (ret.), "This provocative book issues a scalding indictment of America's foreign policy blunders across the long twentieth century. Whether motivated by ignorance, political calculation, or national arrogance, the United States entered into wars in the Philippines, Vietnam, and Iraq on false pretenses and reaped the bitter fruits of defeat. Contosta's research is thorough and his analysis piercing, resulting in an object lesson in why politicians, generals, and citizens should ask hard questions and think deeply before rushing into wars that will drain the national treasury and bring sorrow to American families, especially when no fundamental interests are at stake. Presidents should keep this book on their bedside table lest they be tempted to launch another needless war without realizing the potential consequences." --Thomas A. Chambers, professor of history, Niagara University, and author of Memories of War: Visiting Battlegrounds and Bonefields in the Early American Republic "A tract for the times, Contosta's book is a sober reappraisal of the deformation of American foreign policy over the last century. Republicans and Democrats alike have fallen into the trap of using military force at moments when the country was not in imminent danger of attack. God help us if we repeat these catastrophic errors today or tomorrow." --Jay Winter, Charles J. Stille Professor of History Emeritus, Yale University "In America's Needless Wars , David R. Contosta earnestly examines three pivotal conflicts in US history--ill-fated military ventures born of hubris and misconception, which culminated in tragedy and disillusionment." -- Gregg Jones, author of Honor in the Dust: Theodore Roosevelt, War in the Philippines, and the Rise and Fall of America's Imperial Dream, an Editors' Choice of the New York Times Book Review, and Last Stand at Khe Sanh: The U.S. Marines' Finest Hour in Vietnam , recipient of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation's General Wallace M. Greene, Jr. Award for distinguished nonfiction book "A 'splendid little book,' to paraphrase one of its subjects. Thoughtful, provocative, readable, and full of arresting details--Ho Chi Minh playing 'The Star-Spangled Banner,' or the origins of waterboarding in the Philippine-American War. You can agree or disagree with Contosta, but his account of three seemingly different conflicts, across three centuries, will leave you convinced that history really does "rhyme." And that ultimately the biggest threat to American power and prestige--past, present, and future--may be when policy makers, media, and citizens fail to ask the hard questions." --Joseph Torsella, US Ambassador (ret.)
