Includes bibliographical references (p. [403]-408) and index.

Prologue: The better they fought, the better relief workers they became
America's African rifles
Alaska to Thailand: the organizing principle of the Earth's surface
A civilization unto itself, swishing through the crushing void
Geeks with tattoos: the most driven men I have ever known
NATO's ragged Southern edge
The Gurkha standard
Tribal mafias
A dependable blue-collar plane
Timbuktu, Soviet Stonehenge, and gnarly-ass jungle
The big glider and the jagged boomerang
The morbid tyranny out of antiquity
Afterward: The non-warrior democracy

Foreign affairs journalist Kaplan lets readers experience up close the American military worldwide in the air, at sea, and on the ground: flying in a B-2 bomber, living on a nuclear submarine, and traveling with a Stryker brigade on missions around the world. Provided unprecedented access, Kaplan moves from destroyers off the coast of Indonesia to submarines in the central Pacific, from simulated Iraqi training grounds in Alaska to technology bases in Las Vegas. He goes deep into their highly technical and exotic worlds, and tells this story through the words and perspectives of the enlisted personnel and junior officers themselves--men and women who, as he writes, have "had their national identities as Americans engraved in sharp bas-relief." He not only conveys the vast scope of America's military commitments, but also shows us astonishing and vital operations as they unfold--from the point of view of the troops themselves.--From publisher description.