God Forgives, Brothers Don't - by Jasper Craven (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

In the tradition of Sebastian Junger's Tribe and Chris Hedges's classic War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning, a powerful investigation into the fraught history of military education in the United States and how it parallels the evolution of American masculinity.

Thanks to the prevalence of Boy Scouts, military schools, service academies, JROTC, ROTC, and more, the military has secured a dominant position in the American educational system. This has given the brass outsized power in shaping our youth and, by extension, society at large. As investigative journalist Jasper Craven powerfully demonstrates in these pages, the military has long defined American masculinity and often fosters its most toxic traits.

Craven makes this case by revisiting American military history--beginning with the American Revolution. The birth of our nation required a new masculine ideal, which was crafted in the image of America's founding father: George Washington. During the Civil War, Craven points to the brutality of hazing at schools, and the deeply prejudicial culture at places like West Point, which reared Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and other famed confederates.

The first and second World Wars escalated the need for battle-ready youth, and put forth a noble male archetype, while the Cold War marked the beginning of the Christian right's growing interest in military schools as upholding a heroic, patriarchal, and brutal notion of manhood. Vietnam and the anti-war movement sparked panic around "the death of honor," and the diminishment of the military's hegemonic masculinity. Out of these conflicts emerged a more cynical, battle-hardened masculine archetype, evidenced by military school graduates like William Westmoreland and Oliver North.

Lastly, Craven brings us up to the Gulf Wars and the War on Terror years which set the stage for military education today and its burrowing into civilian education via STEM and other avenues. With policies like "don't ask, don't tell" and growing religious influence and motivation, the manhood that emerges through this most recent phase of our history is defined by its ability to diminish and dehumanize "the other."

Part sweeping military history, part journalistic investigation, God Forgives, Brothers Don't lifts the veil on the harmful world of military schools and provides essential context and nuance to the ongoing debate on American masculinity.

About the Author

Jasper Craven is a freelance reporter covering the military and veterans' issues. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Harper's Magazine, Politico magazine, and The Baffler, among others. He is the author of God Forgives, Brothers Don't and he is also the coauthor, with Suzanne Gordon and Steve Early, of the academic book Our Veterans. Follow him on X @Jasper_Craven.