Description
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Walter McDougall reinterprets the traditions that have shaped U.S. foreign policy from 1776 to the present in "an entertaining and iconoclastic fashion" (Philadelphia Inquirer).
In a concise analysis, McDougall divides American diplomatic history into two stages, which he calls "Old Testament" and "New Testament" phases.
The "Old Testament" phase, which ran from the Revolution to the 1890s, centered on protecting and perfecting America within. The "New Testament" phase, from the Spanish-American War to the present, is more interventionist, featuring competing ideals of containment, expansion, and meliorism. Within the "testament" phases, McDougall goes on to further categorize eight conflicting schools of thought.
Conversational in tone and highly educational, readers will appreciate McDougall's astute observations and overview of American foreign policy. Crucially, McDougall contends that by projecting U.S. standards and ideals onto other countries, the U.S. repeatedly overextends its resources and pays too a high a price for assuming such risk.
In Promised Land, Crusader State, "McDougall has written a lively and provocative book" (Wall Street Journal) that is "a rich study of the American experience" (Los Angeles Times).
Book Information
ISBN 9780395901328
Author Walter McDougall
Format Paperback
Page Count 304
Imprint Houghton Mifflin
Publisher Cengage Learning, Inc
Weight(grams) 343g
Dimensions(mm) 227mm * 152mm * 19mm
In a concise analysis, McDougall divides American diplomatic history into two stages, which he calls "Old Testament" and "New Testament" phases.
The "Old Testament" phase, which ran from the Revolution to the 1890s, centered on protecting and perfecting America within. The "New Testament" phase, from the Spanish-American War to the present, is more interventionist, featuring competing ideals of containment, expansion, and meliorism. Within the "testament" phases, McDougall goes on to further categorize eight conflicting schools of thought.
Conversational in tone and highly educational, readers will appreciate McDougall's astute observations and overview of American foreign policy. Crucially, McDougall contends that by projecting U.S. standards and ideals onto other countries, the U.S. repeatedly overextends its resources and pays too a high a price for assuming such risk.
In Promised Land, Crusader State, "McDougall has written a lively and provocative book" (Wall Street Journal) that is "a rich study of the American experience" (Los Angeles Times).
Book Information
ISBN 9780395901328
Author Walter McDougall
Format Paperback
Page Count 304
Imprint Houghton Mifflin
Publisher Cengage Learning, Inc
Weight(grams) 343g
Dimensions(mm) 227mm * 152mm * 19mm
