ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book introduces the reader to the major texts and critical conversations regarding American war literature. It focuses on texts that have state-sponsored, reciprocal violence at their center, even if the violence itself occurs "off-stage" in works that take place on the home front during and after war. The book relies on a theory of war most famously articulated by Carl von Clausewitz's On War in which he defines war as the deployment of violence by at least two states with conflicting goals to determine an outcome. It examines a range of writings under the umbrella of war literature, produced across a long span of literary history, some themes and tropes recur, particularly in literature focused on combat. The book helps the reader to keep some of the questions in mind: How does war shape ordinary life? and so on.
