Shooting Up: A Short History of Drugs and War examines how intoxicants have been put to the service of states; empires and their armies throughout history. Since the beginning of organized combat; armed forces have prescribed drugs to their members for two general purposes: to enhance performance during combat and to counter the trauma of killing and witnessing violence after it is over. Stimulants (e.g. alcohol; cocaine; and amphetamines) have been used to temporarily create better soldiers by that improving stamina; overcoming sleeplessness; eliminating fatigue; and increasing fighting spirit. Downers (e.g. alcohol; opiates; morphine; heroin; marijuana; barbiturates) have also been useful in dealing with the soldier's greatest enemy - shattered nerves. Kamienski's focuses on drugs "prescribed" by military authorities; but also documents the widespread unauthorised consumption by soldiers themselves. Combatants have always treated with various drugs and alcohol; mainly for recreational use and as a reward to themselves for enduring the constant tension of preparing for. Although not officially approved; such "self-medication" is often been quietly tolerated by commanders in so far as it did not affect combat effectiveness. This volume spans the history of combat from the use of opium; coca; and mushrooms in pre-modern warfare to the efforts of modern militaries; during the Cold War in particular; to design psychochemical offensive weapons that can be used to incapacitate rather than to kill the enemy. Along the way; Kamienski provides fascinating coverage of on the European adoption of hashish during Napolean's invasion of Egypt; opium use during the American Civil War; amphetamines in the Third Reich; and the use of narcotics to control child soldiers in the rebel militias of contemporary Africa.
#551452 in Books Green Steven K 2015-07-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 6.30 x 1.00 x 9.30l; .0 #File Name: 0190230975312 pagesInventing a Christian America The Myth of the Religious Founding
Review
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Myths are not necessarily liesBy Anson Cassel MillsSteven K. Green; a law professor at Willamette University; and a former legal director and special counsel for Americans United for Separation of Church and State; here disputes the notion that the United States was founded as a Christian nation; and he does so with scholarship that is both reasonable and comprehensive.Nevertheless; the book reminds me of a major problem of C. Vann Woodward’s Strange Career of Jim Crow (1955); which argued that Jim Crow laws were not put in place immediately following the Civil War but were enacted later in the century. The thesis works well if you are a 20th-century professor focusing on legal records and archival documents. The thesis works less well if you are an African American entering a southern white restaurant in 1870.Green does well to conclude by reminding his readers that history is complicated. The evidence he himself presents is complicated enough. Add to that the understanding of the new nation that was carried in the hearts and minds of hundreds of thousands of ordinary 19th-century Americans; and the complexity grows. Myths are not necessarily lies. We don’t have to endorse the inanities of Christian nationalists plucking quotations from the Founders out of context to believe that for practical purposes the American colonies and the early United States were indeed founded; at least roughly; on Christian principles.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Well ResearchedBy CustomerPeople on both sides of the debate of America's Christian roots are partly right and partly wrong. This book does a great job of unpacking the history and development of the American myth. There is a lot of revisionist history out there; but this book is a welcome corrective; helping us see that our American story; like many world cultures; makes the most sense when we see ourselves in the myth and it's development.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Powerful and InsightfulBy Lawrence S. NewberryExcellent historical accounts and insights into this import aspect of American culture. A must read. Now more than ever now more than ever if you wish to understand the corporate chokehold on the social; political and religious lives of the American people.
