Andrew Preston is Professor of American History at Cambridge University. He is the author of Sword of the Spirit, Shield of Faith: Religion in American War and Diplomacy and The War Council: McGeorge Bundy, the NSC, and Vietnam.
A superb writer and a terrific historian, Andrew Preston has given us a gem of a book, sparkling with clarity and insight. College students and general readers alike will find here both an engaging narrative and a compelling analysis of the US relationship with the rest of the world. There is no better brief overview than this supremely useful study. --Thomas ( Tim ) Borstelmann, author of The Cold War and the Color Line