American Foreign Relations: A History, Volume 1: To 1920

by Thomas G. Paterson, J. Garry Clifford, Shane J. Maddock

This best-selling text presents the best synthesis of current scholarship available to emphasize the theme of expansionism and its manifestations.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

384 pages, Paperback

First published August 20, 1999

About the author

Thomas Graham Paterson received his Bachelors degree from the University of New Hampshire in 1963, and his Masters and Doctoral degrees from the University of California at Berkeley in 1964 and 1968, respectively. Paterson is known primarily for his contributions to Cold War history with an emphasis on United States-Cuba relations, as well as the study of United States foreign relations in general.
A prolific author, Paterson has written and co-written numerous books and articles, and has also served as an editor for several books and scholarly journals, including Diplomatic History and the Encyclopedia of U.S. Foreign Relations (1997), for which he was a contributing editor. He has published several articles and book reviews in newspapers, magazines, and newsletters, as well as scholarly journals such as the Journal of American History, The New England Journal of History, Diplomatic History, the New England Quarterly, and the American Historical Review. He is a member of a multiple of historical and scholarly associations, including the American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, the New England Historical Association, and the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR), the last of which he was president in 1987.
Paterson is the recipient of a number of fellowships and research grants. He has appeared on television and radio programs, and has delivered an impressive number of lectures throughout the United States, as well as Canada, China, Cuba, Venezuela, New Zealand, Great Britain, Colombia, and Russia. He taught both graduate and undergraduate level History courses at the University of Connecticut from 1967 through 1997. Aside from his teaching duties, Paterson was also a member of several different University and History Department committees. Paterson has been Professor Emeritus since his retirement from teaching at UConn in 1997.

Reviews

[Aisha Manus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clear and easy to read. Pretty neutral in perspective though naturally leans more towards American perspective. Good book for an intro to American foreign relations and I would recommend to a study looking to learn more.

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written and engaging rundown of early American foreign policy, occasionally reads like a very well cited Cracked article, which is more of a positive than a negative in my opinion. Definitely check with your professor to see if you can buy the 2010 seventh edition instead of the much, much more expensive eighth from 2014, since our understanding of the material hasn't changed very much in the intervening four years, unlike volume 2.