Books by Daniel Walker Howe

3. Daniel Walker Howe, The Political Culture of the American Whigs .  An excellent history book in its own right, this is also one of the best sources for understanding the 19th century roots of our current dilemma.  Reading everything by Daniel Walker Howe is in fact a good algorithm for proceeding in life.

That is from the excellent What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America , 1815-1848, by Daniel Walker Howe.  The rate of desertion in the Mexican-American War was the highest in American history and twice that of Vietnam.