San Antonio College Library

Shell shock, combat fatigue, Vietnam Syndrome--whatever the name, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been with us since ancient Greece. With 20 percent of the veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq exhibiting PTSD symptoms, the United States military has a strong interest in combating the condition. Navy psychiatrist Robert N. McLay has been at the forefront of these efforts, using virtual reality to treat service members and veterans with PTSD....

In the ruined Europe of World War II, American soldiers on the frontline had no eye for breathtaking vistas or romantic settings. The brutality of battle profoundly darkened the soldiers' perceptions of the Old World. Drawing on soldiers' diaries, letters, poems and songs, Peter Schrijvers offers a compelling account of the experiences of U.S. combat ground forces: their struggles with the European terrain and seasons, their confrontations with soldiers,...

Movies like American Sniper and The Hurt Locker hint at the inner scars our soldiers incur during service in a war zone. The moral dimensions of their psychological injuries--guilt, shame, feeling responsible for doing wrong or being wronged-elude conventional treatment. Georgetown philosophy professor Nancy Sherman turns her focus to these moral injuries in Afterwar. She argues that psychology and medicine alone are inadequate to help with many of...

General Robert E. Lee's army was a surprise to almost everyone : With daring early victories and an invasion into the North, they nearly managed to convince the North to give up the fight. Astonishingly, after 150 years of scholarship, there are still some major surprises about the Army of Northern Virginia. Historian Joseph T. Glatthaar draws on sources assembled over two decades -- from letters and diaries, to official war records, to a new, definitive...