"A War of Nerves" is a history of military psychiatry in the 20th century--an account drawing on a range of diaries, interviews, medical papers, and official records, from doctors as well as ordinary soldiers. It reaches back to the moment when the technologies of modern warfare and the disciplines of psychological medicine 1st confronted each other on the Western Front, and traces their relationship through the eras of shell-shock, combat fatigue, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This book weaves together the literary, medical, and military lore to give history of war neuroses and their treatment, from the World Wars through Vietnam and up to the Gulf War. In so doing, the author answers recurring questions about the effects of war. Why do some men crack and others not? Are the limits of resistance determined by character, heredity, upbringing, ideology, or simple biochemistry?