I picked up Men, Women & War: Do Women Belong in the Front Line? by Martin van Creveld at the library recently because it looked like a good book about a topic I have found interesting ever since I was a private back in the early 90’s when I first joined the military. For this debate van Creveld’s book is about as topical as it gets. He examines the historical examples of women in combat and makes a valiant attempt to separate the fact from the fiction. The book is separated into three sections and includes extensive source notes and an index. It was written in 2001 so does not include any information about women’s participation in what I still call the War on Terror.
Dr. van Creveld does not take a position on the matter himself in the book he instead lets the facts and examples speak for themselves. He does a masterful job of covering a subject that inevitably gets feminists and liberals up in arms whenever it is broached. This is an excellent book and one that I highly recommend.