"This book analyzes the war system's infiltration of all aspects of Western culture and how it perpetuates war rather than promote peace, describing the evolving parallel system of peace institutions. The values and ideas of peace activism offer an opportunity to outlaw war in the coming century just as slavery was abolished in the 19th century"--Provided by publisher.

"Men, masculinity, and militarism are so often seen to be in such close (and mythically heroic) correspondence, the war veteran-as-peace-advocate is sometimes viewed as an oxymoron. This is precisely what interests sociologist Mike Messner. In Guys Like Me (a reference to the phrase his own WWI veteran grandfather used to describe ordinary working-class soldiers), Messner writes, war veterans are rendered simultaneously invisible (due in part to the...