This We'll Defend

“Crenshaw’s prose is elegant, nicely paced, and carefully constructed. This thoughtful meditation on war is worth lingering over.”—Publishers Weekly

“Complex intertwining of a deep personal and familial connection to our armed forces with profound reservations about the meaning of military service pervade this slim volume. . . . The insight Crenshaw offers into the baser instincts of young military men is raw and unflinching. This [is] a valuable read for those who will lead such troops. . . . [and] raises important questions for all of us about the nature of our militarized society.”—ARMY Magazine

“Crenshaw pulls readers into his world and subtly prods the exploration of their own beliefs.”—North Carolina Literary Review

“These woven essays are a masterful reckoning of the notion that war makes a man. A potent and true antidote to one of our longest-running yet false myths.”—Donald Anderson, editor, War, Literature & the Arts

“Crenshaw deeply investigates his time in the National Guard, including what led him there and its lingering effects. The lyricism and metaphor he draws from the relationships and routine of military life strike a truly haunting chord that I found both unflinchingly revealing and surprisingly relatable. An essential book for our moment.”—Jac Jemc, author of The Grip of It and False Bingo

“When Henry James coined the phrase ‘the real thing,’ he must have been thinking about Paul Crenshaw. Through superb prose and an insider’s perspective, Crenshaw has created a book that is completely necessary.”—David Lazar, author of I’ll Be Your Mirror: Essays and Aphorisms