Arming America through the Centuries

While many associate the concept commonly referred to as the ';military-industrial complex' with President Dwight D. Eisenhower's 1961 farewell address, the roots of it existed two hundred years earlier. This concept, as Benjamin Franklin Cooling writes, was ';part of historical lore' as a burgeoning American nation discovered the inextricable relationship between arms and the State. InArming America through the Centuries,Cooling examines the origins and development of the military-industrial complex (MIC) over the course of American history. He argues that the evolution of America's military-industrial-business-political experience is the basis for a contemporary American Sparta. Cooling explores the influence of industry on security, the increasing prevalence of outsourcing, ever-present economic and political influence, and the evolving nature of modern warfare. He connects the budding military-industrial relations of the colonial era and Industrial Revolution to their formal interdependence during the Cold War down to the present-day resurrection of Great Power competition. Across eight chronological chapters, Cooling weaves together threads of industry, finance, privatization, appropriations, and technology to create a rich historical tapestry of US national defense in one comprehensive volume. Integrating information from both recent works as well as canonical, older sources, Cooling's ambitious single-volume synthesis is a uniquely accessible and illuminating survey not only for scholars and policymakers but for students and general readers as well.