or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
Express Checkout with PayPhrase
What's this? | Create PayPhrase
Sorry!
X
More Buying Choices
44 used & new from $1.79
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
The Tragedy of American Diplomacy (New Edition)
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don’t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.
 
  

The Tragedy of American Diplomacy (New Edition) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "America's traditional view of itself and the world is composed of three basic ideas, or images..." (more)
Key Phrases: overseas economic expansion, farm businessmen, door imperialism, United States, Soviet Union, World War (more...)
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
List Price: $16.95
Price: $12.08 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $4.87 (29%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Want it delivered Friday, November 13? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
20 new from $1.99 24 used from $1.79

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
  Hardcover -- -- --
  Paperback $10.24 $10.22 $8.95
  Paperback, July 17, 1988 $12.08 $1.99 $1.79
There is a newer edition of this item:
The Tragedy of American Diplomacy (50th Anniversary Edition) The Tragedy of American Diplomacy (50th Anniversary Edition) 3.8 out of 5 stars (8)
$10.24
In Stock.

Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with Empire As A Way of Life: An Essay on the Causes and Character of America's Present Predicament Along with a Few Thoughts about an Alternative by William Appleman Williams

The Tragedy of American Diplomacy (New Edition) + Empire As A Way of Life: An Essay on the Causes and Character of America's Present Predicament Along with a Few Thoughts about an Alternative
Price For Both: $23.74

Show availability and shipping details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Strategies of Containment: A Critical Appraisal of American National Security Policy during the Cold War

Strategies of Containment: A Critical Appraisal of American National Security Policy during the Cold War

by John Lewis Gaddis
4.9 out of 5 stars (13)  $13.57
Spreading the American Dream: American Economic & Cultural Expansion 1890-1945 (American Century)

Spreading the American Dream: American Economic & Cultural Expansion 1890-1945 (American Century)

by Emily S. Rosenberg
4.7 out of 5 stars (3)  $17.16
Henry Kissinger and the American Century

Henry Kissinger and the American Century

by Jeremi Suri
4.7 out of 5 stars (3)  $14.96
The American Way of War: A History of United States Military Strategy and Policy

The American Way of War: A History of United States Military Strategy and Policy

by Russell Weigley
4.2 out of 5 stars (16)  $17.81
The Republican Roosevelt, Second Edition (Harvard Paperback; HP 114)

The Republican Roosevelt, Second Edition (Harvard Paperback; HP 114)

by John Morton Blum
3.5 out of 5 stars (2)  $18.56
› Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

Review

Stimulating and provocative. . . . A highly interesting contribution to today's great foreign policy debate. (American Historical Review )

The influence of Williams's The Tragedy of American Diplomacy . . . is beyond challege. An iconoclastic attack upon conventional wisdom, it is equally important because it framed arguments about its subject. . . . No comprehensive scheme, no broad generalizations, and few but the narrowest studies of episodes in American foreign relations will be written, if they are to shine, without an awareness of and an accommodation to [this book]. (Bradford Perkins, University of Michigan, in Redefining the Past: Essays in Diplomatic History in Honor of William Appleman Williams )


Product Description

One of the first modern historians to integrate economic realities into the study of American foreign policy, William Appleman Williams has been a diplomatic historian of major influence since the first publication of The Tragedy of American Diplomacy. In this pioneering book, "the man who has really put the counter-tradition together in its modern form" (Saturday Review) examines the profound contradictions between America's ideals and its uses of its vast power, from the Open Door Notes of 1898 to the Bay of Pigs and the Vietnam War. .
See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co. (July 17, 1988)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0393304930
  • ISBN-13: 978-0393304930
  • Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #394,766 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Author

William Appleman Williams
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

› Visit Amazon's William Appleman Williams Page
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:
Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
America's traditional view of itself and the world is composed of three basic ideas, or images. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
overseas economic expansion, farm businessmen, door imperialism, reorganization loan, open door strategy, corporation leaders, open door policy, informal empire, frontier thesis
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, Soviet Union, World War, New Deal, New York, Secretary of State, Latin America, State Department, Bolshevik Revolution, President Wilson, Woodrow Wilson, Great Britain, League of Nations, Open Door Notes, Far East, Middle East, Theodore Roosevelt, Western Hemisphere, Monroe Doctrine, Nazi Germany, Roosevelt Administration, Herbert Hoover, Potsdam Conference, Standard Oil, Department of State
New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 65 books:
See all 65 books this book cites
 
100 books cite this book:
See all 100 books citing this book

Books on Related Topics (learn more)
 
 

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(4)
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more
 

Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
66 of 67 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Revisionist Trailblazer, April 4, 1998
By Tyson D. Rahmeier (Roswell, GA USA) - See all my reviews
The term "revisionist historian" has come lately to describe one who conforms to an ideology of "politically correctness". William Appleman Williams, however, embodies the true definition of a revisionist: one who examines the evidence from a new angle and breaks with the traditional interpretations. "The Tragedy of American Diplomacy" is such a text. Beginning with the Spanish-American War of 1898, Williams presents the United States as a tough and, at times, ruthless aggrandizer of its economic power and expansion. The traditional teaching of US history involves emphasis on American isolationist tendencies and stress on the nonexistence of an "American Empire." Williams challenges that presentation. While acknowledging that the US has never really had an empire on the model of the British or French empires, Williams argues that the US empire has always been economical. The Open Door Policy, generally associated with US-Chinese relations, actually formed a larger US economic philosophy adhered to in US relations everywhere. The American opposition and responses to Fidel Castro's revolution in Cuba (the culminating event in the book) stemmed largely from the loss of economic privileges, rather than the nebulous ideology of anti-Communism. Williams provocative analysis goes a long way toward altering traditional portrayals of US foreign policy and its goals, and inspired the careers of a whole generation of truly revisionist historians.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Tragedy of American Diplomacy, June 7, 2004
By J. Lindner (Gem Lake, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
In the Tragedy of American Diplomacy, William Appleman Williams illustrates how America fails to honor its own principles when it approaches foreign policy. America believes in self-determination and the right to develop its own brand of democracy. Unfortunately, no other nation is afforded the luxury of self discovery. Other nations must conform to America's vision of democracy or face the terror of America?s military might. This, to Williams, is the tragedy.

Cuba is his first case. America wanted Cuba to adhere to American visions which meant wealth for the sugar planters and their American backers. When Cuba sought its own course and threw off a repressive regime, America objected. The rift has existed ever since as no American administration will ever acknowledge Cuba's right to govern its own affairs so long as Castro is in power.

Williams then systematically follows the years from 1898 through 1961 and paints a similar picture. It does not take the reader long to get the idea and carry the argument beyond Williams' parameters and show that everything from Grenada to Lebanon to Afghanistan to Iraq can be shown in the same light. American puppet governments are not granting freedom and democracy to their constituents as much as they are part of a ruling class dominated by the business interests that exploit their workforce and deny requests for reform until the entire population is ripe for rebellion (remember the Shah of Iran). One wonders if the Saudi government is the next great western ally to fall victim to a popular revolt of Muslim fundamentalists.

Williams is a master of detail and works his arguments creatively in an entertaining fashion. Neoconservatives of today will have the same objections as their predecessors from the 1950s in acknowledging Williams as a valid author. But Williams makes a strong case and if more people were exposed to his writing, our country might even find a way to avoid the same pitfalls. A Saudi revolution would disrupt oil markets and jeopardize world economies. Perhaps if some thought is put into policy such a scenario is avoidable and preventable. If people are willing to give Williams a chance American foreign policy might eventually reflect a broader American vision rather than the interests of a few.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Erudite, splendidly crafted, fine piece of scholarhip, April 8, 2006
By Karun Mukherji (Calicut,, India) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
Williams book explores paradoxical nature of US Foreign Policy.

Firstly author refutes orthodox view that accidental,inadvertent turn of events transformed America into a global power.Williams has argued market forces unleashed by private free enterprise economy dictated the growth of American power;it has also molded country's foreign policy and continues to do so.To comprehend this fully one has to understand the intricacies of Capitalism.

It goes without saying that Capitalism carries within it the seed of self destruction.Late 19th century American economy was convulsed by frequent bouts of economic depression which led to wide spread social unrest.Home markets saturated with goods which people find difficult to absorb as they had only limited purchasing power.'Frontier' had close down and country's leading intellectuals [William Jackson Turner,Brooke Adams,Alfred Thayer Mahan] frantically called for overseas expansion avert an impending economic doom

Thus economic considerations compelled successive American Presidents[Grover Clevland,William Mckinley,Thedore Roosevelt,Woodrow Wilson]to remake the world in America's image.Unfortunately this policy boomeranged because Afro,Asian,Latin American world refused to share American view
Iniquitous,unfair trade practised by US helped Washington to enrich in detriment to welfare of latter economies.This was closely followed by American tendency to externalise evil.It posits the view that other nations have a stake in America's continued,prosperous existence.This preposterous notion,according to the author, has been the starting point America's troubles.Actually problem lay in funamental nature of capitalist economy.Attempts to reverse this trend triggered counter revolutionary wars in Asia,Latin America.The above feature forms essence of this book;this idea continues to permeate the book.

Williams provide fresh interpretation on the onset of Cold WarHe holds Truman administration accountable for the coming of iron curtain in Eastern Europe.Firstly in immediate postwar years US taking advantage of its economic might tried to extend its 'open door'policy into Eastern Europe.Further exploiting atomic monopoly the President tried to reverse political order which emerged in areas under Soviet control.

We may pause here try to establish reasons behind America's post war hostility toward Soviet Union.Unlike Britain which during the days of the empire could invest and dominate worldwide, America upon the end of World War II inherited a divided world
Soviet economy wth its emphasis on industrial self sufficency apart from shutting the door US investment was in the process of curtailing imports substantially.With the success of Communist revolution 1/3rd of world's population had wrenched free from capitalist sphere influence.With so much production capacity lying idle,US by the end of World War II was haunted by a spectre of another depression.Challenge before America -challenges her still-wheather market will shrink.

Marshall plan leading to massive post war reconstruction Western Europe must be seen from this angle.Rebuilding war-ravaged economies stimulated economic growth in US.Thus in my opinion Marshall plan must not be construed as a manifestation of American altruism;it was motivated by economic self interest.

Author's stress upon market forces dictating the American destiny
broadly agrees with Marxian interpretation of History.Perhaps this was reason why Williams was dubbed Marxist,Stalinist by conservative,liberal elite of his country.This book deserves to be read by those whio believe current anti American sentiment sweeping the world stems from sheer envy for American prosperity.



Comment Comments (2) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Created An "Open Door" To Exploring The True Nature Of Pax Americana
William Appleman Williams critique of Pax America was a brave intellectual opening on the heals of McCarthyism. Read more
Published 4 months ago by J. Gwinn

3.0 out of 5 stars Ahead of Its Time -- Half-a-Century Ago
"The Tragedy of American Diplomacy" was an important book when it was published at the high point of the Cold War in 1959. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Reader

2.0 out of 5 stars A big fat lie
This book seeks to overthrow perceptions of American diplomacy and foreign policy. The thesis is simple and typical: America was never isolationist, there was always a hidden... Read more
Published on December 3, 2006 by Seth J. Frantzman

4.0 out of 5 stars A revisionist manifesto on U.S. foreign policy
The Tragedy of American Diplomacy holds a unique place in the annals of foreign policy and diplomatic history. Read more
Published on April 21, 2002 by Daniel Jolley

2.0 out of 5 stars A must miss!
If you're looking for a typical left-wing "revisionist" account of US diplomatic history, then this book might appeal to you. Read more
Published on November 10, 2001

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   

So You'd Like to...

Create a guide

Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)

Look for Similar Items by Category

Look for Similar Items by Subject

Search Books by subject:


















i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...
 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.