Customer Reviews

Rise to Globalism

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book is an excellent jumping off point for any student of international relations and is quite possibly the best book available for someone who simply wants to know more about American history in the 20th century.

The latest edition of this book (up through Clinton's first term as president) covers roughly 58 years of American foreign poicy in 428 pages; since an entire set of books could easily be written about this period there is going to be a good deal that Ambrose glosses over and skips. If you are looking for detail about any one period in American history, look elsewhere. But if you simply want a map of what has been going on in foreign policy then you will be hard pressed to do better than this book.

"Rise to Globalism" is definitely written from an historical perspective; it reads like a narrative and as such has only the smallest bit of analysis. While this book rates very highly in providing a sense of what has been happening, there is not much to inform you about the political theory, ideology, or trends that underlied decisions that American leaders made in foreign policy. This is not so much a criticism of "Rise to Globalism" (as there is only so much that can be fit into one book); instead take it as a way to differentiate this book from other worthy foreign policy titles that you may be choosing from.

Ambrose's prose is excellent and engaging; often I would read large chunks of this book in one sitting. Admittedly a lot has been going on in world politics and to his credit Ambrose knows what is substantial enough to include, and what details to leave to the reader to seek for herself. This helps the book immeasurably, as it rarely gets bogged down in unnecessary detail.

An overlooked but extremely helpful part of this book is the extensive bibliography. For each chapter, Ambrose includes a lengthy list of books that the reader can examine to more deeply probe anything that has been included in "Rise to Globalism." While anyone can benefit from this feature, the bibliography will be espcially useful for students as it is an excellent way to quickly find other high quality books on foreign relations (especially useful if one needs information for term papers).

Basically, if you are in any way intereseted in American foreign policy this book is a must have. And if you have no interest whatsoever in American foreign policy this book is still highly recommended as it reads very well as a narrative.

This is a classic! Simply the best single volume account of American Foreign Policy I have ever read. Ambrose writes in a clear and concise way, leaving nothing out yet avoiding dry, dull text. His analysis is suburb, his conclusions lucid and thought provoking. This is the book to read if you want a comprehensive overview of America's foreign policy of the past 60 years.

I read the first edition of this book in 1989 as part of required reading in college. I've never been interested in history before I read this book. This book taught history in such a way that you will realize that past is important to move forward. I read it with the same enthusiasm I always have for good fiction. A must read for anyone who wonder how the USA become a major power broker in the world.

This is a great book for those looking to understand the United States' position in the world today. Ambrose and Brinkley are two critically acclaimed authors who have an excellent grasp on America in the 20th century.

The current edition of the book covers the period from 1938 to the first Clinton administration. The authors provide a good explanation of all major military conflicts and foreign policy decisions the U.S. made during those years. Note, however, that this book only covers U.S. foreign policy and deals very little with domestic policy and events. Ambrose and Brinkley do an excellent job connecting major themes in American foreign policy, such as containment and the Truman Doctrine, to the actions Presidents and Secretaries of State and Defense made.

The book is an excellent overview for casual readers and historians looking to understand American foreign policy over the last sixty years. Sentences are kept brief and to the point. The chapters flow with a good narration of events and in a chronological order. Ambrose and Brinkley, while not providing a bibliography, do provide some good suggestions for further reading. Overall, this is an excellent starting point for casual historians and students of modern U.S. history concerned with foreign policy.

I read the 7th edition (published in 1993) while I was in college taking a U.S. Foreign Policy Course. I am nowadays a High School History teacher.

The book is filled with useful information laid out in a clear and understandable way. I've seen many an interview with Ambrose, and I could almost hear his voice reading it to me.

However, there are obvious biases toward an agenda (which I am still not sure what the agenda is.) Ambrose rips apart basically every President since World War II. He basically holds them responsible for not having 20/20 hindsight. In other areas, he criticizes them for over-reaction...and then will criticize them for not doing enough. You can't have it all ways. He also tends to rely on looking at short-term outcomes instead of long-term. He spends most of the book criticizing containment...but ends the book by saying that the Truman Doctrine was correct.

Ambrose seems to have a serious distaste for Reagan and Johnson. He seems to believe Carter was an ideological idiotic President that ended up doing the exact opposite of everything he stood for. Believes Kennedy was naive and being led/misled by the people around him. (He attributes similar things to Reagan.) He seems to have the most admiration for Nixon. I don't get the feeling he liked Nixon as a person, but as a President, his administration was probably most up to the task of running a super-power.

I also found the Reagan chapter interesting. He bashes Reagan for spending on defense (weapon spending) at the expense of the deficit. BUT...in the next chapter he claims that Bush didn't spend enough on defense and that defense spending has been falling too much. He then makes reference to the fact that we were spending less on defense in 1989 than 1981 and this is a problem. WAIT A SECOND!!! You just spent the previous chapter bashing Reagan for spending on defense and now you say he cut spending on defense and shouldn't have? My head was spinning.

Use the book as a very good primer. But there is inherit danger in using it as an end all be all. Having re-read it again recently (11 years after it came out) it is amazing how off the mark his final chapter was. I guess his hindset isn't 20/20.

I read this book years ago and still recall details vividly. Ambrose's greatest gift is eluding the historians pompous, hindsighted viewpoints and, instead, reliving the moments and letting the reader make relative conclusions. Ambrose captures key personalities and shows how differing cabinets of our past presidents have shaped the dynamics of the world today more than you know, as well as the ids and superegos of the presidents, themselves. You feel each decision as if it were your own. This is history, with major doses of adventure and responsibility.

This book by the late Stephen E. Ambrose is a very comprehensive of American Foreign policy. It takes the reader from the Pre World War 2 days up to the present. It covers World War 2, The Cold War, Korea, Vietnam, The Gulf War, and every other small event in between. It discusses American Foreign Policy in Africa and The Middle East. A book worth reading.

Ambrose's survey of U.S. foreign policy since 1938 is rigorous and informative. It is one of the few works of its subject and scope capable of captivating beginners and scholars alike. The development of key topics, most notably U.S. policy toward the Middle East and Vietnam, is impressive considering the book's breadth. Only on very few occasions does Ambrose's broad brush fail to discuss adequately the roots and ramifications of U.S. intervention, particularly in Guatemala and Iran. On the whole, however, it is the best book of its kind available.

Those longing for an explanation of U.S. policy through caricatures of demonic presidents and ruthless capitalism will (or should) be somewhat disappointed. The story we read here is, rather, the tale of a nation rising to become the world's greatest power in much the same way as others have throughout history. Of the presidents, even the most dishonest (Nixon) and frightening (Reagan) are depicted as they were: leaders of their times very much imbued--often unfortunately for the rest of the world--with assumptions accepted by most of their fellow Americans.

Covering 60 years of US foreign policy in a little over 400 pages requires that much detail be edited out. However, Stephen Ambrose and Douglas Brinkley are able to squeeze in a lot of history and have room left for some interpretation and analysis. RISE TO GLOBALISM is a great resource for recent US and world history, and provides a lot of the context for what occurs today in foreign affairs. Few history books are so readable and comprehensive, but the span of time and the complexity of the events cannot be adequately covered in the given pages. It is, at best, a very good summary or overview of US foreign policy. My main annoyance was with the frequent typographical errors. I can understand the desire of professors to continue using this book in spite of the author's recent plagiarism incident; what would you replace it with?

This is a good survey of American foreign policy since 1938. It can be dry at times since it is dealing with policy but I highly recommend it. Stephen E. Ambrose co-wrote it so you know it must be pretty good. I recommend this because many Americans now adays don't really know much about America's foreign policy and how we became a hegemonic power. If you are interested in American foreign policy since 1938, then this is the book for you.