Introduction
1. "To Begin the World Over Again": Foreign Policy and the Birth of
the Republic, 1776-1778
2. "None Who Can Make Us Afraid": The New Republic in a Hostile
World, 1789-1801
3. "Purified as by Fire": Republicanism Challenged and Reaffirmed,
1801-1815
4. "Leave the Rest to Us": The Assertive Republic, 1815-1837
5. "A Dose of Arsenic": Slavery, Expansionism, and the Road to
Disunion, 1837-1861
6. "Last Best Hope": The Union, the Confederacy, and Civil War
Diplomacy, 1861-1877
7. "A Good Enough England": Foreign Relations in the Gilded Age,
1877-1893
8. The War of1898 and the Dawn of the American Century,
1893-1901
9. "Bursting with Good Intentions": The United States in World
Affairs, 1901-1913
10. "A New Age": Wilson, the Great War, and U.S. Foreign Policy,
1913-1921
Epilogue
Bibiliographic Essay
George C. Herring is Alumni Professor of History Emeritus at the University of Kentucky. A leading authority on U.S. foreign relations, he is the former editor of Diplomatic History and a past president of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations. He is the author of America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975 and LBJ and Vietnam: A Different Kind of War, among other books.
"The strength of this book is the author's Herculean power of
synthesis...Herring recaptures a quarter-millennium of American
foreign policy with fluidity and felicity...we have long been
waiting for a single-volume history like this one, and "From Colony
to Superpower" deserves a place on the bookshelf."--New York Times
Book Review
"Its first achievement is its feat of inclusiveness, managed by
making quick work of many interesting subplots of the United
States' rich and complex relations with the world...The narrative
power lies partly in identifying themes that gradually give a
strong organizational cohesion to his story...It is revisionism of
the best kind, quiet but insistent, reinforced by archival evidence
and deftly drawn parallels."--Howard W. French, The New York
Times
"An impressive, up-to-date diplomatic history of the US that
masterfully employs traditional, revisionnist, and in many
instances synthetic interpretations in a story line from Colonial
America to the second Bush administration.... This will be an
award-winning book that becomes the standard text for US diplomatic
history. A superb accomplishment. Essential."--C.W. Haury,
CHOICE
"The only volume in the series that spans the entirety of the
American past, From Colony to Superpower could not be more timely,
more colorful, or more compelling for Americans seeking to
understand the causes and the consequences of the quagmires in
Afghanistan and Iraq. Herring is well equipped to provide that
analysis."--The Chronicle of Higher Education
"A sweeping and lucid history...This authoritative work is destined
to grace the bookshelves not only of scholars, but also of
nonspecialists who want to understand how the US has engaged the
world from the American Revolution to the administration of George
W. Bush."--Christian Science Monitor
"A model of clarity."--Dallas Morning News
"This latest entry in the outstanding Oxford History of the United
States is continually engrossing in its overview of American
diplomacy... Herring's lucid prose and thought-provoking arguments
give this large tome a pace that never flags."--Publishers Weekly
starred review
"The only themed volume so far in the 'Oxford History of the United
States' series, this work portrays the history of the world's
foremost republic through the prism of its international
interactions. Striking is the emergence, through Herring's clear
and compelling storytelling, of certain themes in the way the
United States has conducted and still conducts itself among
nations...Highly recommended for both public and academic
libraries."--Library
Journal
"A magisterial look at 232 years of diplomacy."--Reviews in
American History
"Magisterial."--National Interest
"A mammoth volume that tracks the vagaries of American foreign
policy over more than two centuries. It is encyclopedic in its
reach, but remains a pleasurable read. Herring's goal is more to
explain than judge, and he performs the former with admirable
skill."--Global Research
"George Herring's colossal history of US foreign relations has
earned fully-deserved praise for its staggering erudition, lucid
prose and brisk style."--The National
"Impeccably written and deeply researched."--The Veteran: The
Official Voice of Vietnam Veterans of America
"Riveting."--The Post and Courier
"The purpose of this ambitious and massive work is to track and
explain how 13 separate, vulnerable British colonies evolved to
carve out a position of dominance in world affairs. This is the
latest volume in the Oxford History of the United States
series...Herring effectively dismisses the myth of American
isolationism. Even before our Revolution, Americans had strong
economic ties with several European powers, and our diplomatic
efforts were essential in
facilitating the westward movement. Herring also deftly deals with
the often-conflicting strains of idealism and pragmatism that have
motivated our policy makers. Patient and well-informed general
readers
will find this well worth the effort."--Booklist
"In this splendidly detailed account, George Herring expertly
guides us through the rich and fascinating story of America's
foreign relations. This is history on a grand scale, clearly and
elegantly rendered. Anyone who wants to understand how the United
States has come to occupy its current place on the world stage
should read this magisterial book."--Fredrik Logevall, co-author of
A People and a Nation
"Readers of his work knew that George Herring's review of U.S.
foreign policy would be scrupulously fair-minded but may not have
anticipated so broad a sweep and so deeply felt an analysis. In
swift and highly readable prose, Professor Herring explains us
unforgettably to ourselves."--A. J. Langguth, author of Our
Vietnam
"Authored by a distinguished historian of American foreign policy,
this is a landmark work in its scope, clarity of writing, depth of
research, and significant interpretations of, among others, the
'myth' of historic American isolationism, the revealing
relationships between how Americans behave at home and how they
behave abroad, a most bittersweet Cold War, and the centuries-long
dependence of Americans on beliefs in their supposed exceptionalism
and Manifest
Destiny. It offers a most rewarding lesson about how the history of
U.S. foreign policy is to be examined, if not always, given the
policy's often tragic results, praised."--Walter LaFeber,
Cornell
University
"George Herring's well-paced, readable, and up-to-date history of
U.S. foreign relations will be the authoritative account for this
generation."--Emily S. Rosenberg, University of California,
Irvine
"In this splendidly detailed account, George Herring expertly
guides us through the rich and fascinating story of America's
foreign relations. This is history on a grand scale, clearly and
elegantly rendered. Anyone who wants to understand how the United
States has come to occupy its current place on the world stage
should read this magisterial book."--Fredrik Logevall, co-author of
A People and a Nation
"Readers of his work knew that George Herring's review of U.S.
foreign policy would be scrupulously fair-minded but may not have
anticipated so broad a sweep and so deeply felt an analysis. In
swift and highly readable prose, Professor Herring explains us
unforgettably to ourselves."--A. J. Langguth, author of Our
Vietnam
"Authored by a distinguished historian of American foreign policy,
this is a landmark work in its scope, clarity of writing, depth of
research, and significant interpretations of, among others, the
'myth' of historic American isolationism, the revealing
relationships between how Americans behave at home and how they
behave abroad, a most bittersweet Cold War, and the centuries-long
dependence of Americans on beliefs in their supposed exceptionalism
and Manifest
Destiny. It offers a most rewarding lesson about how the history of
U.S. foreign policy is to be examined, if not always, given the
policy's often tragic results, praised."--Walter LaFeber,
Cornell
University
"George Herring's well-paced, readable, and up-to-date history of
U.S. foreign relations will be the authoritative account for this
generation."--Emily S. Rosenberg, University of California,
Irvine
"Blend[s] thorough treatment and engaging style to bridge the
divide between scholarly expert and interested reader.... A
thorough, accurate, detailed delineation of the chief policy
initiatives of an era."--Books and Culture
"A rewarding literary sojourn through the evolution of American
foreign policy.... A most worthy addition to any historian's
library."--Sea History
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