July 26, 2010

Routledge Press has recently published "Citizen and Soldier: A Sourcebook on Military Service and National Defense from Colonial America to the Present," co-edited by Dr. Gerald Shenk.

The publisher's website describes the book this way:

Americans grow up expecting that in a time of need, their country can depend on its people for volunteer service to the military. Indeed, this has been a social and at times legal expectation for the citizenship of this country since 1776. Yet, since the end of World War II, U.S. forces have been caught up in long-term military engagements, and the military aspect of citizenship has become an increasingly marginalized one in a country where only a minority of citizens even vote.

"Citizen and Soldier: A Sourcebook on Military Service and National Defense from Colonial America to the Present" provides a useful framework and supporting documentary evidence for an informed discussion of the development of the American ideal of the "citizen soldier." Presented with insightful introductions and useful discussion questions, this concise collection of 27 primary documents takes a close look at the U.S. military and shows how it became entwined with the rise of American national identity.

The book was co-edited with Dr. Henry Dethloff, professor emeritus of history at Texas A&M.

Dr. Shenk (pictured at left) is a professor of social and behavioral sciences at CSUMB. Since 1996, he has taught a variety of history courses, including California history and U.S. social and political history. He is best known among CSUMB students for his course, "Domination and Resistance in the Americas." His research interests include war and American society, race and gender, California history, African American history and Filipino American history. In 2005, he published "Work or Fight! Race, Gender and the Draft during World War I."

He spent part of last year as a Fulbright Scholar in the Philippines, where he lectured and did research on civic education and teacher training.