A History of American War in Five Bodies

At first glance, the history of American warfare can often appear strangely devoid of flesh and blood. Prior to the 1960s, Hollywood shied away from graphic war wounds, and military propaganda continues to downplay war’s relentless consumption of life and limb. According to Professor John M. Kinder, however, injured bodies deserve to be moved from the margins to the center of the American war story. In this talk, Kinder explores the history of American war through the bodies of five disabled veterans. What emerges is a portrait of nation struggling (and often failing) to mitigate the human cost of military conflict.
 
John M. Kinder is Associate Professor of History and American Studies at Oklahoma State University. He is the author of Paying with Their Bodies: American War and the Problem of the Disabled Veteran (University of Chicago Press, 2015). He is currently completing a book on the history of zoos during World War II.