Warhogs: A History of War Profits in America

by Stuart D. Brandes

Overview

The author masterfully blends intellectual, economic, and military history into a fascinating discussion of a great moral question for generations of Americans: Can some individuals rightly profit during wartime while other sacrifice their lives to protect the nation?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813189680
Publisher:	University Press of Kentucky
Publication date:	12/14/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Stuart D. Brandes is professor of history at the University of Wisconsin Center-Rock County.

Editorial Reviews

Its forbidding title notwithstanding, this is an objective look at the history of American military contracting and the profits derived from it from Colonial times through World War II (with a brief treatment of the early Cold War years). Brandes (history, Wisconsin-Rock Community Coll.) focuses on the politics of war profits and, to a lesser degree, on the social and intellectual responses of the public and of artists and writers. As a result, he does not provide any statistical analysis of the legitimacy of war profits and rarely argues either side of issues. He does drift into larger issues during some historical periods; the 1930s chapter, for example, is dominated by foreign policy and geopolitical issues related to isolationism. The book will nicely fill a gap in academic collections and is readable enough to interest larger public libraries.Fritz Buckallew, Univ. of Central Oklahoma Lib., Edmond

Library Journal

The only comprehensive attempt to deal with the many facets of government contracting during time of military crisis through World War II.... This balanced account is must reading for anyone interested in American military history.

Military History of the West

Offers a treasure of information on greed and selfishness during crises in America.

Reviews in American History

Stuart D. Brandes has written a solid, thoroughly researched, and exceedingly unemotional and restrained history of a neglected subject, carrying it through World War II with a limited consideration of the Cold War.... [H]is book is not to be ignored by either economic or military historians.

American Historical Review

A valuable addition to the historiography of the United States munitions industry and its relationship to American democracy and capitalism.

Journal of Southwest Georgia History

Stuart D. Brandes is the first scholar to tackle the complex and ever-shifting issue of war profits across nearly the entire scope of American history. This highly readable narrative asks the right questions and supplies cogent, well-reasoned answers based on impressive research and careful reflection.

Daniel E. Sutherland

"Stuart D. Brandes has written a solid, thoroughly researched, and exceedingly unemotional and restrained history of a neglected subject, carrying it through World War II with a limited consideration of the Cold War.... [H]is book is not to be ignored by either economic or military historians." — American Historical Review

"Offers a treasure of information on greed and selfishness during crises in America." — Reviews in American History

"A valuable addition to the historiography of the United States munitions industry and its relationship to American democracy and capitalism." — Journal of Southwest Georgia History

"The only comprehensive attempt to deal with the many facets of government contracting during time of military crisis through World War II.... This balanced account is must reading for anyone interested in American military history." — Military History of the West

"Stuart D. Brandes is the first scholar to tackle the complex and ever-shifting issue of war profits across nearly the entire scope of American history. This highly readable narrative asks the right questions and supplies cogent, well-reasoned answers based on impressive research and careful reflection." — Daniel E. Sutherland

From the Publisher