Founded and rooted in Enlightenment values‎,‎ the United States is caught between two conflicting imperatives when it comes to war‎:‎ achieving perfect security through the annihilation of threats‎;‎ and a requirement to conduct itself in a liberal and humane manner‎.‎ In order to reconcile these often clashing requirements‎,‎ the US has often turned to its scientists and laboratories to find strategies and weapons that are both decisive and humane‎.‎ In effect‎,‎ a modern faith in science and technology to overcome life‎'‎s problems has been utilized to create a distinctly ‎'‎American Way of Warfare‎'‎‎.‎ Carvin and Williams provide a framework to understand the successes and failures of the US in the wars it has fought since the days of the early Republic through to the War on Terror‎.‎ It is the first book of its kind to combine a study of technology‎,‎ law and liberalism in American warfare‎.‎