Instrument of War - by David Suisman (Hardcover)

About the Book

"David Suisman shows that the US military has deep and multilayered investment in music. It employs thousands of musicians, whose music creates communal norms and identities. Music also helps soldiers to grapple with the realities of combat, while serving as a weapon in its own right, at places like Guantâanamo Bay. Suisman calls music "a lubricant in the gears of the American war machine," and he ably shows how its elemental qualities have been used and transformed, much as the military itself has, by technology and by changing understandings of the self. Today's soldiers may still stand for reveille, but they also cultivate Spotify lists to fly drones by"--

Book Synopsis

An original history of music in the lives of American soldiers.

Since the Civil War, music has coursed through the United States military. Soldiers have sung while marching, listened to phonographs and armed forces radio, and packed the seats at large-scale USO shows. "Reveille" has roused soldiers in the morning and "Taps" has marked the end of a long day. Whether the sounds came from brass instruments, weary and homesick singers, or a pair of heavily used earbuds, where there was war, there was music, too.

Instrument of War is a first-of-its-kind study of music in the lives of American soldiers. Although musical activity has been part of war since time immemorial, the significance of the US military as a musical institution has generally gone unnoticed. Historian David Suisman traces how the US military used--and continues to use--music to train soldiers and regulate military life, and how soldiers themselves have turned to music to cope with war's emotional and psychological realities. Opening our ears to these practices, Suisman reveals how music has enabled more than a century and a half of American war-making. Instrument of War unsettles assumptions about music as a force of uplift and beauty, demonstrating how it has also been entangled in large-scale state violence.

Whether it involves chanting "Sound off!" in basic training, switching on a phonograph or radio, or cueing up an iPod playlist while out on patrol, the sound of music has long resonated in soldiers' wartime experiences. Now we all can finally hear it.

Review Quotes

"Expertly researched and documented, Instrument of War is written in clear, yet professional prose informing novices and experts alike--and is a book that will find its way to the shelves of military and other historians, musicologists, music educators, band directors, amateur musicians, music listeners, and general readers."-- "The Journal of Military History"

"David Suisman's Instrument of War: Music and the Making of America's Soldiers offers a groundbreaking analysis of the role of music throughout American military history. In his book, Suisman sets off to understand how music, and those who make it, has enabled the execution of American wars. He argues convincingly that a fundamental relationship exists between the processes of making music and making war, focusing on ways in which music is made, utilized, experienced and interpreted."-- "ARMY magazine"

"As if to thwart any skepticism of his premise before he even gets started, cultural historian David Suisman kicks off Instrument of War, his thoroughgoing look at the essential role that music plays in the US armed forces, with that eye-opening statistic. Suisman's research reveals that music has been as indispensable to the US's warmaking machinery as tanks and uniforms going back at least to the 1860s and the Civil War."
-- "The Wire"

"Scholars will appreciate this nuanced history of music and pop culture in wartime."-- "Library Journal"

"Crisply written and deeply researched, this is a fascinating, nuanced study of music's role in the making of the military and the making of war. Suisman is a detailed historian and a subtle critic. He listens carefully to the music of war and empire, so that ultimately he can listen for the possibility of peace."--Josh Kun, University of Southern California

"Military music is one of those topics that you can go years without thinking about, until a book like Suisman's shows you just how fascinating it is. Then you notice it everywhere. Deftly written and full of interest, Instrument of War is an excellent cultural history."--Daniel Immerwahr, author of 'How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States'

"Instrument of War is a meticulously researched and extraordinarily well written book that combines an awareness of the complexity of military life with a profound understanding of music's ability to shape and express nuances of collective and individual feeling. A remarkable achievement."--Barry Shank, author of 'The Political Force of Musical Beauty'

"Suisman has given us a brilliant work of historical reimagination, a work full of stories worth sharing and insights that may alter our understanding of warfare itself."--Beth Bailey, author of 'An Army Afire: How the US Army Confronted Its Racial Crisis in the Vietnam Era'

About the Author

David Suisman is associate professor of history at the University of Delaware. He is the author of Selling Sounds: The Commercial Revolution in American Music, winner of numerous awards and honors, and co-editor of Capitalism and the Senses and Sound in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.