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Surrender in warfare has determined the fate of governments, states, and nations. It has reduced powerful commanders to powerless captives and in¿icted submission, degradation, and even death on common soldiers held as prisoners of war. It has also led to civilian detainees being grossly mistreated and murdered. However, surrender, prisoners of war, and detainees have rarely been addressed as general phenomena in warfare. Leaving the Fight is then an essential history of the evolution of surrender from the Middle Ages to the present day. John A. Lynn II explores the different forms taken by surrender, from the abject capitulation of armies and states to the withdrawal of forces from military interventions deemed to be unwinnable, such as in Vietnam and Afghanistan. He also considers the fates of prisoners of war and civilians detained by military forces from harsh treatment intended to intimidate foes to attempts to win over hearts and minds.
List of contents
Preface; 1. Introduction: Focus and Framework; 2. The Invention of European Honorable Surrender during the Age of Chivalry; 3. The Honors of War in Early Modern Surrender, 1650-1789; 4. The American Civil War and its Aftermath: Confederate Surrender Transformed into Racist Victory, 1861-1877; 5. Fighting and Ending the 'War to End War' on the Western Front, 1914-1919; 6. Surrender in a War of Extremes, 1937-1945; 7. Substitutes for Victory - Stalemate, Surrender, and Prisoners of War in America's Cold War Conflicts, 1950-1973; 8. Combat, Detention Operations, and Surrender during the War on Terror, 2001-2021; Conclusion; Selected Relevant Works on Surrender, Prisoners of War, and Detainees; Index.
About the author
John A. Lynn II is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His previous publications include Another Kind of War: The Nature and History of Terrorism (2019) and Battle: A History of Combat and Culture (2003). He has served as president of the US Commission on Military History and vice president of the Society for Military History and was awarded the Morrison Prize from the Society for Military History in 2017.
Summary
Surrender in warfare has determined the fate of governments, states, and nations. However surrender, prisoners of war, and detainees have rarely been addressed as general phenomena in warfare. Leaving the Fight is then an essential history of the evolution of surrender from the Middle Ages to the present day.
Foreword
Pioneering history of surrender, prisoners of war and civilian detainees in western warfare from the Middle Ages to the present.
