The History of American Foreign Policy: To 1920

This is the first of a two-volume history of US foreign policy from independence through the presidency of George W. Bush. This volume offers chapters early American diplomacy, the Louisiana Purchase, the War of 1812, the diplomacy of expansion and the Monroe Doctrine, territorial expansion on the North American continent, the Civil War and its diplomatic aftermath, overseas expansion in the mid-19th century, the Spanish-American War and the decision for Empire, the surge into Asia, varieties of American empire in Latin America, and European-American relations and World War I. Combs (emeritus, history, San Francisco State U.) maintains the tone of narrative omniscience and balance standard to other textbooks of American diplomatic history, but acknowledges and discusses controversies among nationalist, realist, revisionist, institutionalist, and other historians in a concluding section for each chapter. The final chapter on World War I reappears as the first chapter of the second volume. Annotation c2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)