Dr. Seuss and the Art of War

Secret Military Lessons

Montgomery McFate, General David Petraeus, US Army (Ret.)

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English

Rowman & Littlefield
18 September 2024

Children's literature studies: general; Military history; Defence strategy, planning & research

If you take an interest in military and national security affairs, you have probably read the works of Clausewitz, Sun Tzu, and Thucydides. But what about the books of the underappreciated military strategist Theodor Geisel, also known as Dr. Seuss? Until Dr. Seuss & National Security, the military aspect of Ted Geisel’s biography and his books have been overlooked by scholars and critics alike. Yet Dr. Seuss books possess direct relevance to national security in part because Ted Geisel’s service in the the US Army during WWII made a lasting impact on his worldview.

Numerous traces of Ted Geisel’s intense and dangerous wartime experiences can be found in his children’s books. Tucked in between bright and vivid drawings of imaginary animals and whimsical settings, the reader may sometimes encounter foreboding dark forests, ariel bombardment, ruthless authority figures, and other evocations of military life. Each of the chapters in this edited volume employs a Dr. Seuss book to illuminate a national security topic. For example, Oh, the Places You’ll Go helps us understand grand strategy in outer space, I Had Trouble Getting to Solla Sollew puts new light on Clausewitz’s concept of the fog of war, and Hunches in Bunches can be seen as a primer on military intelligence.

By using beloved childhood stories to illuminate national security topics, this book offers an entertaining way to approach complex topics that can be understood by specialists and non‐experts alike.

Foreword by: General David Petraeus US Army (Ret.)
Edited by: Montgomery McFate
Imprint: Rowman & Littlefield
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 151mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 503g
ISBN: 9781538193624
ISBN 10: 1538193620
Pages: 370
Publication Date: 18 September 2024
Recommended Age: From 18 to 22 years
Audience: College/higher education , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Montgomery McFate is a professor at the US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. She holds a PhD in Anthropology from Yale University and a JD from Harvard Law School. She is the author and/or editor of Considering Anthropology and Small Wars (Routledge 2020); Military Anthropology: Soldiers, Scholars and Subjects at the Margins of Empire (Oxford University Press 2018); Social Science Goes to War (Oxford University Press 2015), among others. Her articles have appeared in such journals as Defense and Security Analysis, Journal of Information Warfare, Journal of Small Wars & Insurgencies, and Joint Forces Quarterly. She was a key contributor to US Army Field Manual 3-24, Counterinsurgency and is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Reviews for Dr. Seuss and the Art of War: Secret Military Lessons

Only Montgomery can take an obscure comparison like this...and make it intensely interesting. After reading the introduction, she captured my curiosity, and I could not set the book down. A stunningly brilliant analysis of Dr. Seuss and many of the most prolific writers and practitioners of warfare. Dr. Seuss and Dr. Montgomery McFate are both national treasures. A must read and bring your thinking cap. --Brigadier General Martin Schweitzer, US Army (ret.) Strategy can be fun as well as serious. Behind the fantastical rhymes of Dr. Seuss are insights into the human condition and what it takes to defend our values. Montgomery McFate and her distinguished team explore these insights, and in doing so, throw new light on some of the big issues of military theory and practice. --Lawrence Freedman, Emeritus Professor of War Studies, King's College London