The Four Ages Of American Foreign Policy

Independence, 1765-1788 -- In the shadow of the French Revolution, 1788-1815 -- The continental republic, 1815-1865 -- Great-power debut, 1865-1914 -- The offshore balancer, 1914-1933 -- The arsenal of democracy, 1933-1945 -- The contest of systems, 1945-1953 -- War improbable, peace impossible -- A superpower dies in bed -- The new world order, 1990-2001 -- Back to the future, 2001-2015.

'Happily the new, four-volume book provides an opportunity to scan the past two centuries for indications of the shape of foreign policy in the post-Cold War world. Each of the four books stands on its own. Each offers a clear overview of a particular period written by a distinguished historian drawing on considerable body of research, itself the product of decades of scholarly endeavor. None is simply a chronicle of events.'- World Policy Journal

In this leading text, Walter LaFeber offers a comprehensive history of American foreign relations from the mid-eighteenth century to the present. His narrative account features several major themes: the connections between U.S. foreign policy and domestic politics; the impact of American economic development on foreign policy interests; popular culture, particularly film, as a filter for public opinion on American commitments abroad; the roles of public opinion, leadership, and bureaucracy in the formation of policy.

Exhaustive examination from colonial times to the present, emphasizing conflicting opinions on foreign policy issues.