Max Boot's book, The Savage Wars of Peace, is researched and written very well. He brings a new light and importance to the "small wars" or "low intensity conflicts" that in time, helped America become a world power. He began writing the book because he wanted to provide "a concise history of America's small wars abroad that...relate[s] the past to problems confronting the United States today." In the end he realized that not only did he write a book about small wars that could relate to present problems, but also a book that shows how "the United States has always found itself being drawn into the savage wars of peace." The main theme of this book is that in America's history, war in some variety is the rule and not the exception. Dissimilar to the accepted myth, the United States military has fought several small wars to support the country's interests overseas, often times without a preceding announcement of war. Boot skillfully explains how the country started out as a commercial power before becoming a great power in the 1890s and then, finally, a superpower in 1941. Boot's book is an informational read providing useful information on small wars, while including a great base for the science, as well as the art, of waging small wars. Along with all the different areas he touches in his book, most importantly Boot's novel contains some very important lessons that may prove to be very useful to the duty-bound Coalition completing its task in Iraq.
             The book provides information and facts that is not always well known. He mentions many actions, conflicts, and moments in history that are not always mentioned in many of the text books read today. Boot's writing is not dry, or uninteresting. On the contrary, he is able to hold interest with his creative titles, and subtitles, such as "Pirates of the Caribbean," of different sections within the book, alon...