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Walter A. McDougall
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Promised Land, Crusader State: The American Encounter with the World Since 1776 Paperback – May 15, 1998

by Walter McDougall (Author)
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Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Walter McDougall reinterprets the traditions that have shaped U.S. foreign policy from 1776 to the present in "an entertaining and iconoclastic fashion" (Philadelphia Inquirer).

In a concise analysis, McDougall divides American diplomatic history into two stages, which he calls "Old Testament" and "New Testament" phases.

The “Old Testament” phase, which ran from the Revolution to the 1890s, centered on protecting and perfecting America within. The "New Testament" phase, from the Spanish-American War to the present, is more interventionist, featuring competing ideals of containment, expansion, and meliorism. Within the “testament” phases, McDougall goes on to further categorize eight conflicting schools of thought.

Conversational in tone and highly educational, readers will appreciate McDougall’s astute observations and overview of American foreign policy. Crucially, McDougall contends that by projecting U.S. standards and ideals onto other countries, the U.S. repeatedly overextends its resources and pays too a high a price for assuming such risk.

In Promised Land, Crusader State, "McDougall has written a lively and provocative book" (Wall Street Journal) that is "a rich study of the American experience" (Los Angeles Times).
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  1. Print length
    304 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Harper Paperbacks
  4. Publication date
    May 15, 1998
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 0.75 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0395901324
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0395901328
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Masterful wit, clarity, and insight." Christian Science Monitor

"A rich study of the American experience." The Los Angeles Times

"First rate." The New York Times

"A valuable guide for today's policymakers." - Henry Kissinger

"an entertaing and iconoclastic fashion" The Philadelphia Inquirer

About the Author

Walter A. McDougall received the Pulitzer Prize in history in 1986. A professor of international relations and history at the University of Pennsylvania and a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Reasearch Institute, he lives in Philadelphia.

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Walter A. McDougall

Walter A. McDougall

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