The Enemy in Our Hands: America's Treatment of Enemy Prisoners of War from the Revolution to the War on Terror

Robert C. Doyle's The Enemy in Our Hands examines the treatment of enemy captives by American authorities from the Revolutionary War through the war on terror. He undertakes an ambitious task, seeking threads of continuity across two centuries of warfare. Complicating matters, Doyle makes the questionable decision to include interned American citizens in his analysis of enemy prisoners of war (EPWs). The work shines when describing prisoners’ often miserable experiences, breathing life into historical actors often forgotten in works of military history. The diverse subject matter of the book, however, inhibits the development of an overarching narrative to guide the reader. Doyle's argument that “For some soldiers, becoming an EPW in American hands was nothing short of the horror of their lives; for others, it was good fortune; and for some, it was a miracle,” does little to illustrate the existence, or lack, of a comprehensive U.S. policy toward enemy prisoners (p. 10).