Book Review: American Foreign Relations: A Very Short Introduction

Overview

Nathaniel Moir reviews Andrew Preston's American Foreign Relations: A Very Short Introduction (New York: Oxford University Press 2019), in History: The Journal of the Historical Association.

American Foreign Relations is a remarkable book in which Andrew Preston marshals significant evidence to demonstrate how the United States has shaped world history and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Thematically, Preston's approach to American foreign relations strengthens the conceptualisation and execution of this concise volume. As he explains in his introduction, seven key themes work individually and in concert to orient the reader as helpful signposts.

The first theme consists of the importance of values and a sense of mission in the development and implantation of American foreign relations. The second theme is closely related to the first and centres on how ideas of progress and expansion 'have played a critical role in how Americans envision the world around them' (p. 2). In Preston's description, these themes 'act first and foremost as interpretive lenses that can be used on their own or, if the picture is particularly complex or unclear, by overlaying one or more on top of another' (p. 5). This conceptual framework is helpful on its own merits and is one of many reasons why this short book is ideal for classroom settings, as well as for scholars seeking an incisive overview of the subject....