Why read Elvis's Army?

Book cover of Elvis's Army: Cold War GIs and the Atomic Battlefield

Book description

When the U.S. Army drafted Elvis Presley in 1958, it quickly set about transforming the King of Rock and Roll from a rebellious teen idol into a clean-cut GI. Trading in his gold-trimmed jacket for standard-issue fatigues, Elvis became a model soldier in an army facing the unprecedented challenge of…

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American history

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Why read it?

1 author picked Elvis's Army as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Beth Bailey

Author

This is the army that drafted the King of Rock and Roll.

But it is also an army that feared it was becoming irrelevant and tried to reinvent itself for the atomic age. It’s fascinating to watch a historian as knowledgeable as Brian Linn weave a story that connects the army’s move to incorporate men across the lines of race and class, region and religion, education, and ability, with its efforts to develop doctrine for sophisticated technological warfare.

Crew-fired tactical nuclear weapons, anyone?

From Beth's list on The best unexpected histories of the US military.