Good books on history of US foreign relations?

December 8, 2006 3:36 PM

Anyone have any suggestions for insightful, well-written books on the history of U.S. foreign relations?
posted by Malad to Law & Government (4 answers total)

A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn might fit the bill. It is not, however, without an axe to grind. It has a definite leftist/Marxist slant. While that suits me just fine, it does rub some people the wrong way.
posted by lekvar at 4:20 PM on December 8, 2006

Here's a couple recommendations from diplomatic historians (i.e. historians of foreign policy) on H-DIPLO:

Jerald A. Combs, The History of American Foreign Policy
Howard Jones, Quest for Security: A History of U.S. Foreign Relations (two volumes)
Gerald Clarfield, United States Diplomatic History (two volumes)
posted by russilwvong at 4:44 PM on December 8, 2006

Y'know, that's one of the reasons I so rarely answer questions, people like russilwvong beat me to it. Seconded.
posted by Smedleyman at 8:54 PM on December 8, 2006

Here is the suggested reading list for the Foreign Service Exam. Plenty of good sources to be found there.
posted by Pollomacho at 4:08 AM on December 9, 2006