On Military Memoirs

Esmeralda Kleinreesink, Ph.D. is a lieutenant-colonel with the Royal Netherlands Air Force. She obtained her doctorate at the Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication in 2014. She is also a certified interpreter Dutch-English. Her own military memoir on Afghanistan is called Officier in Afghanistan (Meulenhoff, 2012).

“innovative, refreshing, and ground breaking [...] a well-researched book with a convincing theoretical framework and insightful experiences, which can only be recommended to anyone interested in knowing the real life of military personnel.”From the jury report of the Caforio Award, June 2017.“This contribution to the literature on military writing is uniquely relevant and valuable.”Kate Hendricks Thomas, Charleston Southern University. In: Journal of Veterans Studies, Vol. 2, No. 1 (2017), p. 122-126.“In On Military Memoirs Dr. Esmeralda Kleinreesink provides the most extensive study ever published on autobiographical books written by soldiers. The author provides her readers with valuable insight on how soldiers experience their service, mainly in Afghanistan. On Military Memoirs is a book that should be on the shelf of every scholar and officer interested in military studies and be taught at every military academy and program on military studies.”Professor Yagil Levy, The Open University of Israel

• AcknowledgmentsPrefaceGlossary List of Figures and TablesPART I: SETTING THE STAGEChapter 1 Introduction: Who, What and WhyChapter 2 Theory: Egodocuments and the MilitaryChapter 3 Methodology: Quantitative & Qualitative Methods for Autobiographical ResearchChapter 4 Context: The Missions in AfghanistanPART II: RESULTS Chapter 5 Who Writes and Publishes Soldiers’ Stories? Chapter 6 What Do Soldier-Authors Write About?Chapter 7 Why Do Soldier-Authors Write?Chapter 8 Conclusion: Profiling the Soldier-AuthorChapter 9 Reflections: Some Personal Notes on How to ProceedChapter 10 The Fifty-Four BooksAppendices References Author Index Subject Index