Bodies for Battle

"Gatzemeyer provides a new approach to understanding military preparedness in war and martial culture."—Journal of Military History

"[Gatzemeyer’s] treatment illustrates the changing definitions of soldier, citizen, fitness, masculinity, etc. and preferred qualities at different times in both military and civilian cultures. Highly recommended."—Choice

“This wide-ranging and inclusive study reveals the US Army’s important role in fostering an awareness of physical education throughout the nation. Of particular interest is the wartime struggle between the Army’s established system and that of civilian medical and physical conditioning authorities. This is a work that reveals much about American military culture and why physical fitness became such a fetish in today’s armed forces.”—Brian McAllister Linn, author of The Philippine War, 1899–1902

“Garrett Gatzemeyer’s Bodies for Battle is a significant contribution that is likely to become the definitive text on this important subject for some time. Gatzemeyer provides many cogent insights into both the US Army and American society from the late nineteenth through mid-twentieth centuries. Bodies for Battle is especially valuable in revealing the intersection of military issues, for example battlefield tactics, with cultural developments, for instance fears of dwindling masculinity. Readers interested in the US Army, physical culture, American society, and the long-standing and intimate relationships between them will profit from reading this book.”—William A. Taylor, author of Military Service and American Democracy: From World War II to the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars

“An engaging and deeply researched account of physical training in the military and its intersections with popular fitness culture and exercise science. From bootcamp to the battlefield Gatzemeyer reveals the complex history of physically preparing soldiers for service.”—Shelly McKenzie, author of Getting Physical: The Rise of Fitness Culture in America

“Bodies for Battle skillfully investigates US Army training programs and philosophies from their late nineteenth-century origins through 1957 to reveal how military physical culture shaped not only soldiers’ physiques and general fitness but also broader ideals of manhood and citizenship. Drawing on a rich range of military archival sources, professional physical education journals, periodicals, and interdisciplinary secondary titles, Gatzemeyer’s meticulously researched study breaks important new ground for military history, gender studies, exercise science, cultural history, and American studies scholars.”—Christina Jarvis, author of The Male Body at War: American Masculinity during World War II