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Rating: 
Summary: Good Survey of American Foreign Relations
Review: America's shift from isolationism to internationalism can be a difficult transition to understand. The Cambridge History of American Foreign Relations provides a good foundation for developing the understanding that is necessary to see why the United States acts as it does today.While there are areas of this book that would benefit from some discussion of domestic affairs, specifically surrounding the League of Nations and a couple of other instances, the text is geared toward understanding what was going on in terms of the actions of the United States with respect to the rest of the world. However, this necessitates a paradigm that foreign relations are conducted in a vacuum with respect to domestic affairs. As a general survey of the time period, this book does a good job, but there are elements that could improve the nature of the text.
Rating:
Summary: Good Survey of American Foreign Relations
Review: America's shift from isolationism to internationalism can be a difficult transition to understand. The Cambridge History of American Foreign Relations provides a good foundation for developing the understanding that is necessary to see why the United States acts as it does today. While there are areas of this book that would benefit from some discussion of domestic affairs, specifically surrounding the League of Nations and a couple of other instances, the text is geared toward understanding what was going on in terms of the actions of the United States with respect to the rest of the world. However, this necessitates a paradigm that foreign relations are conducted in a vacuum with respect to domestic affairs. As a general survey of the time period, this book does a good job, but there are elements that could improve the nature of the text.
Rating: 
Summary: Thorough and perfect for a general reader
Review: Examining any foreign policy is as dubious as defining a civilization; and this especially true when examining twentieth century democracies. Many different historians and researchers have proposed different analyses, each influenced by their particular school or discipline and each adding a different spin on what some would think would be a concrete subject. The reason for the multiple reads on foreign policy during a specific era is due to the ever changing and multifaceted interaction between economics, military might, and cultural aspects that influence one another and how the nations view themselves and their neighbors. Akira Iriye's, American Foreign Relations: 1913-1945 presents a complicated part of American history, dissected and predigested, but maintains a comprehensive world view without sacrificing validity. His analysis shies away from a euro-centric perspective and presents interesting views concerning Asia. However, this book does not favor one geopolitical area over another.
Rating:
Summary: Thorough and perfect for a general reader
Review: Examining any foreign policy is as dubious as defining a civilization; and this especially true when examining twentieth century democracies. Many different historians and researchers have proposed different analyses, each influenced by their particular school or discipline and each adding a different spin on what some would think would be a concrete subject. The reason for the multiple reads on foreign policy during a specific era is due to the ever changing and multifaceted interaction between economics, military might, and cultural aspects that influence one another and how the nations view themselves and their neighbors. Akira Iriye's, American Foreign Relations: 1913-1945 presents a complicated part of American history, dissected and predigested, but maintains a comprehensive world view without sacrificing validity. His analysis shies away from a euro-centric perspective and presents interesting views concerning Asia. However, this book does not favor one geopolitical area over another.
Rating: 
Summary: Good overview; not much else
Review: The value of this book is necessarily limited by its length. This volume of the Cambridge series, as is the case with the other three, provides only cursory overviews of the policies and trends in U.S. diplomatic history. Indeed trying to create a thoughtful and informative volume on an era which includes the two great wars in some 200 small, 1.5-spaced pages is nearly an impossible task. As such, it serves only as a good introduction to this era in U.S. history, while providing nothing new to those well-read on the subject. Moreover, there is something about the prose of these books that suggests a rushed effort, seriously detracting from reading pleasure. To Mr. Iriye's credit, he avoids any of the New Left (not being a New Leftist) themes that appear in the final volume of the series. That is, American globalism was not precipitated by corporate conspiracies, but by ideological and strategic interests. Buy this volume and its companians to keep on your bookshelf as a source, but don't expect a fascinating read.
Rating:
Summary: Good overview; not much else
Review: The value of this book is necessarily limited by its length. This volume of the Cambridge series, as is the case with the other three, provides only cursory overviews of the policies and trends in U.S. diplomatic history. Indeed trying to create a thoughtful and informative volume on an era which includes the two great wars in some 200 small, 1.5-spaced pages is nearly an impossible task. As such, it serves only as a good introduction to this era in U.S. history, while providing nothing new to those well-read on the subject. Moreover, there is something about the prose of these books that suggests a rushed effort, seriously detracting from reading pleasure. To Mr. Iriye's credit, he avoids any of the New Left (not being a New Leftist) themes that appear in the final volume of the series. That is, American globalism was not precipitated by corporate conspiracies, but by ideological and strategic interests. Buy this volume and its companians to keep on your bookshelf as a source, but don't expect a fascinating read.
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