Roger Possner holds a PhD from the University of California/Riverside in modern American history. He is the author of The Rise of Militarism in the Progressive Era, 1900-1914. He is currently writing his next project in the history of militarism controversies in 20th century America.

Unlimited military spending is presented as America's only option when the world is depicted as full of threats. Yet 100 years ago, that notion was the subject of heated debates. Questions about relying on force to solve the world's problems were...

Unlimited military spending is presented as America's only option when the world is depicted as full of threats. Yet 100 years ago, that notion was the subject of heated debates. Questions about relying on force to solve the world's problems were asked in ways that no longer seem possible. The book is a non-technological chronological narrative that shows how the militarism issue influenced battles over political power, war, peace and national purpose. Major events of the period are documented, with the arguments used by anti-militarists and their opponents. The history of anti-war and anti-militarist movements did not stop when World War I ended;quite the contrary. Organizations like the American Union Against Militarism and the Committee on Militarism in Education continued to oppose the political and social effects of large military forces and readiness to use them.Anti-militarists were not pacifists nor were they isolationists. They fought the expansion of military forces and the encouragement of military values because they thought national security was better served by peaceful engagement with the world, and because there was no nation or movement capable of defeating us. Readers may wonder if their reading of the world situation is a lesson for today.The book is well and professionally researched and is suitable for academic and public libraries as well as individual readers.