Foreword by Arnold P. Krammer

Revelations of abuse at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison and the U.S. detention camp at Guantánamo Bay had repercussions extending beyond the worldwide media scandal that ensued. The controversy surrounding photos and descriptions of inhumane treatment of enemy prisoners of war, or EPWs, from the war on terror marked a watershed moment in the study of modern warfare and the treatment of prisoners of war. Amid allegations of human rights violations and war crimes, one question stands out among the rest: Was the treatment of America's most recent prisoners of war an isolated event or part of a troubling and complex issue that is deeply rooted in our nation's military history?

Military expert Robert C. Doyle's The Enemy in Our Hands: America's Treatment of Prisoners of War from the Revolution to the War on Terror draws from diverse sources to answer this question. Historical as well as timely in its content, this work examines America's major wars and past conflicts'among them, the American Revolution, the Civil War, World Wars I and II, and Vietnam-to provide understanding of the United States' treatment of military and civilian prisoners.

The Enemy in Our Hands offers a new perspective of U.S. military history on the subject of EPWs and suggests that the tactics employed to manage prisoners of war are unique and disparate from one conflict to the next. In addition to other vital information, Doyle provides a cultural analysis and exploration of U.S. adherence to international standards of conduct, including the 1929 Geneva Convention in each war.

Although wars are not won or lost on the basis of how EPWs are treated, the treatment of prisoners is one of the measures by which history's conquerors are judged.

Robert C. Doyle, professor of history at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, is the author of A Prisoner's Duty: Great Escapes in U.S. Military History and Voices from Captivity: Interpreting the American POW Narrative. He has been a history consultant on multiple films and documentaries, including Hart's War (2002).

Reviews:

Click here to listen to an interview with Robert C. Doyle

Click here to listen to an interview with Robert C. Doyle

"Casting a wide net, this book delivers a scholarly, lucid overview of America's handling of POWs of all stripes: military, civilian, and irregular...Doyle delves deeply, and military buffs will consider it the definitive treatment."-Publishers Weekly

"[The Enemy in Our Hands] is supported by sound scholarship but written in clear, non-pedantic language appropriate to its remarkably insightful and balanced analysis."-Proceedings of the US Naval Institute

"[Doyle] examines American actions regarding POWs from George Washington's leadership through both World Wars to the present."-Larry Cox, Tucsoncitizen.com

"As current events continually shape the context of modern warfare, Doyle's work will assist American consideration of how its treatment of EPWs defines national character."-Franciscan Way

"Doyle's new book is a work of history with direct relevance to contemporary events....Doyle examines every major American war and conflict from the Revolution through Afghanistan and the Global War on Terror (GWOT), pursuing a comprehensive understanding of the issues involved."-Tom Sofio, Franciscan University of Steubenville

"With the very definition of 'torture' subject to partisan politics, [Doyle] is content to objectively relay the precedents that shaped America's treatment of captured enemies without pointing fingers or making sweeping judgments. . . . What readers are left with is a lively primer illuminating the people, events and prejudices that have shaped the government's handling of prisoners of war and homegrown political dissidents over time."-Miller-McCune

"The Enemy in Our Hands is an insightful and balanced work of history, supported by sound scholarship and written in clear, non-pedantic language. It gives the reader a comprehensive review of American foreign policy over six decades, giving a guided tour of Americas battles and wars to get to the heart of the treatment of prisoners by the United States and, collaterally, the treatment of American prisoners by other countries."-Naval History

"...Comprehensive, covering all of the expected prisoner of war populations, as well as the perhaps less expected topics of Loyalist and Quaker prisoners during the American Revolution, Native Americans as POWs, the Spanish American War and the War in the Philippines, domestic internees during World War II, the Phoenix program in Vietnam, and prisoners of the 'War on Terror.'"-Eithne O'Leyne, Book News Inc.

"Show[s] the improvised and inconsistent nature of US policies in most past wars&.Doyle emphasizes individual experience in the cultural history of war and relies more on personal interviews. He also places heavier emphasis on civilian captives and methods of dealing with wartime disloyalty. Highly recommended."-Choice

"Having focused on the historical experiences of American prisoners of war in previous works, Doyle here shifts his focus to how American agents, both military and civilian, have treated their own enemy prisoners of war and other conflict-related detainees from the American Revolution to the present day."-Book News Inc.