Luke Peterson is a professor of Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Acknowledgments; One Empire, Language, and Discourse: The U.S. Military in the Public Imagination; Two Fin de Siècle: The Beginnings of American Empire; Three World War I: American Service ; Four World War II: The Good War; Five America in Vietnam; Six Iraq Part I: Sanitized War, Ubiquitous Patriotism; Seven Iraq Part II: Invasion, Occupation, and Imperial Overreach; Eight Selling the Drama: Culture, Media, the Military, and the American Self; Appendix A: Print News Media Articles Analyzed in Chapter Two, Fin de Siècle: The Beginnings of American Empire; Appendix B: Print News Media Articles Analyzed in Chapter Three, World War I: American Service; Appendix C: Print News Media Articles Analyzed in Chapter Four, World War II: The Good War ; Appendix D: Print News Media Articles Analyzed in Chapter Five, America in Vietnam; Appendix E: Print News Media Articles Analyzed in Chapter Six, Iraq Part I: Sanitized War, Ubiquitous Patriotism; Appendix F: Print News Media Articles Analyzed in Chapter Seven, Iraq Part II: Invasion, Occupation, and Imperial Overreach; Index