Customer Reviews

Mobilizing for Modern War: The Political Economy of American Warfare, 1865-1919

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Koistinen's look at the economic and military powerhouse that the United States became during the years before World War I was done with style and economy. This view of history is an import part of the military that is often over looked by other accounts of the same period. The story of individual personalities however romantic they may be is incomplete with the information presented by Koistinen. Koistinen's writing keeps the reader interested with the use of in depth descriptions gained through the use of many different resources. He does cover the role of the WIB, and J.P. Morgan and company in depth, and almost to the point of exhausting the topic. I would have liked reading more about how all the policy changes effected the lower enlisted man's life. Other than what I mentioned above I think the book is necessary read for anyone that intends to study WWI with any seriousness. It completes the typical military history of battles and generals with the story of the battles ship builders and steel mill owners fought at home.

This was required reading for a graduate course in the history of American military affairs. Paul A. C. Koistenen's life long work in America's economic policies in all her wars is an essential aspect of history that every historian should fully understand. Koistenen's book Mobilizing for War: The Political Economy of American Warfare, 1865-1919 looks in depth at how the Wilson administration instituted new government programs to effectively prosecute the war, which left long lasting effects on the American economy propelling the nation into the "modern age." "Inevitably, the federal government would assume increased economic authority; public powers would touch private enterprise in myriad new ways...The Wilson administration had modernized the nation's banking structure when in 1914 it brought the Federal Reserve System into being." One of the most important creations of the Wilson administration was that of the War Industries Board (WIB) soon after America's entry into the war. "Through the board, centralized control over a planned economy was established and carried out by representatives of the government, the business community, and the military." The financier Bernard M. Baruch, who coincidentally later became part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's economic "brain trust" in World War II, chaired the WIB. Koistenen's book is an indispensable reference for studying America's economic policies during all its wars. Koistenen astutely argued that, "The World War I mobilization experience left an indelible imprint on twentieth-century life...It also sped the transformation in civil-military relations that modern warfare made necessary and introduced the idea and practice of industrial preparedness."

Recommended reading for anyone interested in American history.

Overall I though the book was very good. Well researched and well written.
However, the author spends too much time on the exact organization of each goverment agency. This is somewhat tedious. It causes you to loose track of what the author is trying to get at. Also, like many academics, the author has a very condescending attitude towards ordinary people. By this I mean that he always seems to think that every new government agency, law, or reguation is absoutley good and that people will just have to get used to it.

I would highly recommed this book and the others in the series to anyone who wants to know how the goverment manages defending the nation at various times in it's history.