Thursday February 27, 2024
Soda House Auditorium
Registration will be via Eventbrite

On February 27, David Suisman will speak about his his new book Instrument of War: Music and the Making of America’s Soldiers. Whether the sounds came from brass instruments, weary and homesick singers, or a pair of heavily used earbuds, where there was war, there was music, too. Instrument of War is a first-of-its-kind study of music in the lives of American soldiers. In his talk, David Suisman will trace how the US military used—and continues to use—music to train soldiers and regulate military life, and how soldiers themselves have turned to music to cope with war’s emotional and psychological realities. Opening our ears to these practices, Suisman reveals how music was part of more than a century and a half of American war-making. His book will be available for purchase and to be signed by the author.

David Suisman is associate professor of history at the University of Delaware.