Underdogs: The Making of the Modern Marine Corps

Exploring the growth of the Marines from disadvantaged to elite force, this history “offers an excellent analysis of how the marines became the Marines.” (Publishers Weekly)

The Marine Corps has always considered itself a breed apart. This undying faith in its own exceptionalism is what has made the Marines one of the sharpest, swiftest tools of American military power.

Aaron O’Connell focuses on the period from World War II to Vietnam, when the Marine Corps transformed itself from America’s least respected to its most elite armed force. Venerating sacrifice and suffering, privileging the collective over the individual, Corps culture was saturated with romantic and religious overtones that had enormous marketing potential in a postwar America energized by new global responsibilities. Capitalizing on this, the Marines curried the favor of the nation’s best reporters, befriended publishers, courted Hollywood and Congress, and built a public relations infrastructure that would eventually brand it as the most prestigious military service in America.

But as O’Connell suggests, the Corps’ triumphs did not come without costs, including a culture of violence that sometimes spread beyond the battlefield.

“A significant and original contribution to both the military history of the Cold War and the ongoing conversation about the militarization of American culture.” —Beth Bailey, author of America's Army: Making the All-Volunteer Force

“Takes readers inside the culture of the Corps.” —Nathaniel Fick, author of One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer

“Insightful.” —Library Journal

“A powerful account of the relationship between fighting war and preserving peace, viewed through the lens of the stories that built support for both.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Absorbing.” —The Wall Street Journal

© 2012 Harvard University Press (Ebook): 9780674071469

Release date

Ebook: 29 October 2012