Historian Chris Bray (himself a former soldier) has a new book: Court-Martial: How Military Justice Has Shaped America from the Revolution to 9/11 and Beyond. It is an account of how military justice has shaped American society since the nation’s beginnings.
With a great eye for narrative, tells the sweeping story of military justice from the institution of the court martial in the earliest days of the Republic to contemporary arguments over how to use military courts to try foreign terrorists or soldiers accused of sexual assault.
Throughout, he shows that the separate justice system of the armed forces has often served as a proxy for America’s ongoing arguments over equality, privacy, discrimination, security, and liberty. Chris Bray is a former infantry sergeant in the United States Army and holds a PhD in history from UCLA.
