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The characteristic act of men at war is not dying, but killing. Politicians and military historians may gloss over human slaughter, emphasizing the defense of national honor, but for men in active service, warfare means being - or becoming - efficient killers. In An Intimate History of Killing, historian Joanna Bourke asks: What are the social and psychological dynamics of becoming the best ”citizen soldiers?” What kind of men become the best killers? How do they readjust to civilian life?These questions are answered in this groundbreaking new work that won, while still in manuscript, the Fraenkel Prize for Contemporary History. Excerpting from letters, diaries, memoirs, and reports of British, American, and Australian veterans of three wars (World War I, World War II, and Vietnam), Bourke concludes that the structure of war encourages pleasure in killing and that perfectly ordinary, gentle human beings can, and often do, become enthusiastic killers without being brutalized.This graphic, unromanticized look at men at war is sure to revise many long-held beliefs about the nature of violence.
- Sales Rank: #829132 in Books
- Brand: Joanna Bourke
- Published on: 2000-11-27
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.00" h x 1.25" w x 5.00" l, 1.23 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 509 pages
- An Intimate History of Killing Face to Face Killing in Twentieth Century Warfare
Amazon.com Review
"The characteristic act of men at war is not dying, it is killing".
With that unsettling--yet incontrovertible--assertion, Joanna Bourke opens her investigation of how servicemen deal with the most willfully ignored of wartime activities. Drawing on private letters and diaries of men (and a few women) from the First and Second World Wars and Vietnam, she shows not only how military men talk of their fears and anxieties--familiar enough territory--but also how they talk of joy and pleasure: the physical, sexual excitement of killing other men.
In its own right, the material--lucidly and wittily handled--is fascinating enough. But across Britain, the U.S., and Australia, across three distinct wars, the same stories come through loud and clear: the joy of a man-to-man combat, which, ironically, became less and less common through the century. As Bourke shows, these powerful stories were influenced by the combat tales in magazines, novels, and films that enthralled boys across generations. In the end, despite the best efforts of the military, the experience of war cannot be prepared for.
Some may have reservations about Bourke's conclusions, but the huge mass of detail she brings to light in An Intimate History of Killing forces us at the very least to reconsider those easy clichés about the brutalizing, traumatizing effects of war. --Alan Stewart, Amazon.co.uk
From Publishers Weekly
A historian at London's Birbeck College, Bourke (Dismembering the Male) writes that she "aims to put killing back into military history." To do so, she focuses on the two world wars and Vietnam, examining American, British and Australian combatants' writings. Soldiers' letters and diaries, she writes, "weave together domestic trivia with a narrative of murder," combining surprising pleasure with persistent guilt. Bourke finds that men at war often harbored contradictory notions of their behavior, claiming that they were "following orders" while still trying to accept personal responsibility for their actions. Bourke also examines theories of combat and killing held by psychologists, sociologists and literary writers. Some of the surprises she offers refute conventional belief. In a large-scale firefight, only 25% of men ordered to shoot will shoot; the other three-quarters are "essential for morale." Later chapters concern "fraternizing" and battlefield homoerotics, war crimes and massacres, doctors, chaplains, and women in combat. Admirers of Paul Fussell's books about both world wars will appreciate Bourke's methods. Against Fussell's stress on war's disagreeable burdens, she emphasizes its mixed motives and even pleasures: many soldiers liked their bayonet training, and many fighter pilots loved their work. A persuasive final chapter attacks the "brutalization thesis," the claim (advanced frequently after Vietnam) that combat obliterates a soldier's conscience. Bourke makes the disturbing and convincing argument that soldiers can kill, and even enjoy it, while retaining their senses of self and society, right and wrong. (Nov.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
This extraordinary book deals with war not as seen on some green-tinted TV screen but as experienced by men (and some women) at the front. Focusing mostly on World Wars I and II and Vietnam, these firsthand accounts from British, American, and Australian combatants are riveting. While dealing primarily with war as experienced on the ground, this book also looks at war as seen by combat air crews. The chapters describe the men's emotions (including awkwardness) as they engage in combat, the attempts (more or less successful) of various nations to train men as killers, atrocities (with special attention being paid to the massacre at My Lai), the effects of combat on medics and chaplains, and women's experiences in combat. This fine work has extensive notes and a large bibliography. Bourke (history, Birbeck Coll., London) is the author of such works as Dismembering the Male: Men's Bodies, Britain, and the Great War. For public libraries and military history collections. (Illustrations not seen.)AJoseph Toschik, Half Moon Bay P.L., CA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Most helpful customer reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful.
Incomplete
By G. M.
Dr. Bourke has gathered a very impressive list of sources with which she has saturated her text. She does not, however, offer any deep insights in regards to her material other than making a few obvious remarks. Despite the fact that Bourke has written books on the history of psychological thought and the history of emotions, she seems to shy away from drawing anything other than the most general conclusions such as on page 99 when she declares that "combativeness was thus inscribed on the male physique." Also, practically every source she cites is secondary and she continually quotes from a comparatively large number of "unnamed" soldiers and veterans. This, despite the sheer amount of information Bourke has collected, detracts from the credibility of her material.
Dr. Bourke explains that her focus is narrowed and only takes into consideration material involving American, British, and Australian combatants. She further narrows her consideration by limiting herself to both World Wars and Vietnam. At least twice in her book, Bourke makes mention of and uses source material from the Korean War and at least one source from a 19th century conflict. For such an intriguing subject, Bourke seems to have narrowed herself too much and steps outside her own scope.
Dr. Joanna Bourke's book contains some major flaws, such as her use of S. L. A. Marshall's statistics, and other more minor ones, such as her frequently shallow conclusions. With such an interesting topic, it seems a shame to have narrowed it as much as she did. Much of her thesis would have benefited from taking Germany, Russia, and Japan during World War II into consideration. She does provide a large body of source material, even if it is predominately secondary and/or anonymous. Unfortunately, other than bombarding the reader with citations and quotations from her sources, Bourke does not seem to do much else with her material. If only she had taken this a little farther, it could have offered some eye-opening insights into the true nature of war.
Also, this particular edition of Bourke's book (I have not checked other editions) exhibits a complete failure of editing. The subject matter itself is fascinating, but the missing segments and/or pages makes it extremely difficult to maintain flow. So far there have been a number of instances of editing failure: on page 2 the last word is not finished on the following page and the text is interrupted. The same thing happens on pages 3, 14, 15, 16, 44, and 88. There are a number of missing pages. These are just the discrepancies I can identify. I have no idea how much text is actually missing. All told, don't buy this edition.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Post Secondary Teaching
By LCKansas
Teaching combat veterans with stress disorders requires information. Educating other educators of the issues that combat veterans have is necessary to ensure the best instruction and to help educators, many who have had no experience with the military understand what these men and women have experienced, and how it may affect their lives, and their education.
10 of 21 people found the following review helpful.
Insightful and thought-provoking (despite unfair criticisms)
By A Customer
Bourke has written an intriguing and wonderful book which asks difficult questions and demands that we confront uncomfortable truths. This flies in the face of the Stephen Ambrose groupies who want glorious bands of brothers who grit their teeth and buckle down to unpleasant chores. Rather Bourke, a tremendously erudite historian, shows the complexity of the reaction of Western soldiers to killing.
Like Klaus Theweleit's MALE FANTASIES and Christopher Browning's ORDINARY MEN, Bourke's book must be taken seriously and forces any thoughtful reader to question their own possible reaction in extraordinary circumstances. This self-analysis is automatic when reading this work and undobtedly, many people don't want their neat fantasies disturbed by inconvenient reality.
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