John M. Kinder

I am a historian of war and society in 20th-century America. I am especially interested in the effects of war on American bodies, institutions, and ideas.

To date, my research has led down two distinct, yet overlapping paths.

The first path traces the history of disabled veterans in modern American society.

In 2015, I published "Paying With Their Bodies: American War and the Problem of the Disabled Veteran" (University of Chicago Press), which examines changing attitudes toward disabled veterans in the decades surrounding World War I. In 2022, I co-edited "Service Denied: Marginalized Veterans in Modern American History" (University of Massachusetts Press), and I continue to write and lecture widely on disabled veterans in the United States, both past and present.

The second path examines how zoos —both in the United States and around the globe—have been transformed during periods of military conflict. This research culminated in my book "World War Zoos: Humans and Other Animals in the Deadliest Conflict of the Modern Age," published by the University of Chicago Press in 2025.

I continue to study the history of war and society in modern America. In 2026, my co-edited book "They Are Dead, And Yet They Live: Civil War Memories in a Polarized America" was published by the University of Nebraska Press.

And I am currently completing several book projects.

The first is a true crime history about the murder, execution, and religious faith in World War II Mississippi.

The second is a book on alligators for Reaktion Books' "Animal" Series.

The third is a co-edited (with Matthew Schauer) volume on the animal trade and American empire, under contract with the University of Nebraska Press.