Crucible of Power - 2nd Edition by Howard Jones (Paperback)

About the Book

This book is a narrative history of America's foreign affairs from 1897 to the present that focuses on the major personalities and events from the William McKinley administration through President George W. Bush.

Book Synopsis

In this updated edition of Crucible of Power, Howard Jones draws on his remarkable breadth as a historian of U.S. foreign relations to produce a distinguished survey of America's growth from an emerging power in the 1890s to its present day position of global preeminence. Comprehensive, tempered, and highly accessible, Jones demonstrates the complexities facing U.S. policy makers and the limitations on their actions. The balanced and thoughtful approach to controversial issues and situations makes this book exceptional for classroom use.

This new edition includes a number of revisions and additions aimed at making the volume more attractive to students, teachers, and general readers. A new final chapter brings the story of America's foreign relations as close to the present as possible by focusing on President George W. Bush and his dealing with 9/11, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the Global War on Terrorism. Among other changes, new materials on the Bay of Pigs invasion reveal the CIA's collaboration with the Mafia in trying to assassinate Fidel Castro as the spark setting off a popular insurrection. Also new to this edition: Every chapter now has at least one excerpt from a key document of the period, thus allowing the reader to examine historical evidence firsthand in hopes of providing a feel for the period involved, promoting an understanding of history through the eyes of its participants, and showing how the historian determines the important facts relevant to reconstructing a meaningful narrative.

Review Quotes

"In a volume characteristic of his broad-ranging and important scholarship on U.S. foreign relations, Professor Jones has written a comprehensive, tempered, and highly accessible narrative account of the nation's twentieth-century international involvements." --Joseph A. Fry, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

"Straightforward and direct, Crucible of Power provides students with an accessible means of gaining entry into the history of U.S. foreign relations." --Mark T. Gilderhus, Lyndon B. Johnson Chair, Texas Christian University

"Howard Jones draws on his remarkable breadth as a historian of U.S. foreign relations to produce a distinguished survey of America's growth as an emerging power in the 1890s to its present-day position of global preeminence. His exposition is precise; his sources, exhaustive; his illustrations, revealing." --Richard H. Immerman, Temple University

About the Author

Howard Jones is research professor in the Department of History at the University of Alabama. A recipient of both the John F. Burnum Distinguished Faculty Award for teaching and research and the Blackmon-Moody Outstanding Professor Award, he teaches courses in American foreign relations and the U.S.-Vietnam War.