Guard Wars

<p>An inventive study of relations between the National Guard and the Regular Army during World War II <i>Guard Wars</i> follows the Pennsylvania National Guard's 28th Infantry Division from its peacetime status through training and into combat in Western Europe. The broader story spanning the years 1939-1945 sheds light on the National Guard the U.S. Army and American identities and priorities during the war years. Michael E. Weaver carefully tracks the division's difficult transformation into a combat-ready unit and highlights General Omar Bradley's extraordinary capacity for leadership--which turned the Pennsylvanians from the least capable to one of the more capable units a claim dearly tested in the Battle of the Hürtgen Forest. This absorbing and informative analysis chronicles the nation's response to the extreme demands of a world war and the flexibility its leaders and soldiers displayed in the chaos of combat.</p>