Leaving the Fight
Surrender, Prisoners of War, and Detainees in Western Warfare

Pioneering history of surrender, prisoners of war and civilian detainees in western warfare from the Middle Ages to the present.

John A. Lynn II (Author)

9781107020511, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 6 February 2025

346 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.671 kg

‘John Lynn provides an empirically rich, analytically and theoretically rigorous survey of the surrender of states and military units since the eleventh century. Focussing on the western experience, with particular reference to the United States, he charts the shift from prisoner exchanges to detention and captivity, coupled with the unsteady yet undeniable spread of more humane and inclusive codes of behaviour. His concluding admonition of the importance of foregoing temporary advantages that breach accepted norms is both timely and salutary.’ Peter Wilson, author of Iron and Blood: A Military History of the German-speaking Peoples since 1500

Surrender in warfare has determined the fate of governments, states, and nations. It has reduced powerful commanders to powerless captives and inflicted submission, degradation, and even death on common soldiers held as prisoners of war. It has also led to civilian detainees being grossly mistreated and murdered. However, surrender, prisoners of war, and detainees have rarely been addressed as general phenomena in warfare. Leaving the Fight is then an essential history of the evolution of surrender from the Middle Ages to the present day. John A. Lynn II explores the different forms taken by surrender, from the abject capitulation of armies and states to the withdrawal of forces from military interventions deemed to be unwinnable, such as in Vietnam and Afghanistan. He also considers the fates of prisoners of war and civilians detained by military forces from harsh treatment intended to intimidate foes to attempts to win over hearts and minds.

Preface
1. Introduction: Focus and Framework
2. The Invention of European Honorable Surrender during the Age of Chivalry
3. The Honors of War in Early Modern Surrender, 1650–1789
4. The American Civil War and its Aftermath: Confederate Surrender Transformed into Racist Victory, 1861–1877
5. Fighting and Ending the 'War to End War' on the Western Front, 1914–1919
6. Surrender in a War of Extremes, 1937–1945
7. Substitutes for Victory – Stalemate, Surrender, and Prisoners of War in America's Cold War Conflicts, 1950–1973
8. Combat, Detention Operations, and Surrender during the War on Terror, 2001–2021
Conclusion
Selected Relevant Works on Surrender, Prisoners of War, and Detainees
Index.

Subject Areas: Military history [HBW]