Between the Revolution and the Mexican war, the American republic grew from being a collection of weakly unified states to being a formidable world power. This bibliographic volume covers the first sixty years of United States military history, from 1783 to 1846, a time that has been largely neglected in historical scholarship. The entire range of military affairs, from international diplomacy and ideological considerations to influential presidents, secretaries, and military and naval personalities, is treated in detail throughout this comprehensive bibliography. By addressing Shay's Rebellion, the Indian Wars of the Old Northwest, the Tripolitan War, and other political and diplomatic events, the volume helps to put into context the military trends and activities of an important historical period.

Each of the book's chapters has its own distinct format, but all are linked through an extensive network of cross references. The first chapter provides a general overview of the entire period, detailed chronologically, with separate listings for wars and events and appropriate subheadings for politics and diplomacy, prisoners, and contemporary accounts. Chapters two and three cover the United States Army and Navy, respectively, and group their listings around subjects such as history, policy, administration, personnel, and deployment. The fourth chapter uses a subject and subtopic format in covering the militia, Canada, and Indians, and the final chapter provides an alphabetical listing of biographies. Extensive author and subject indexes are included.