ABSTRACT

The Routledge Handbook of U.S. Military and Diplomatic History provides a comprehensive analysis of the major events, conflicts, and personalities that have defined and shaped the military history of the United States in the modern period. Each chapter begins with  a brief introductory essay that provides context for the topical essays that follow by providing a concise narrative of the period, highlighting some of the scholarly debates and interpretive schools of thought as well as the current state of the academic field. Starting after the Civil War, the chapters chronicle America's rise toward empire, first at home and then overseas, culminating in September 11, 2001 and the War on Terror.

With authoritative and vividly written chapters by both leading scholars and new talent, maps and illustrations, and lists of further readings, this state-of-the-field handbook will be a go-to reference for every American history scholar's bookshelf.

part |25 pages

Post-Civil War American Expansion at Home and Abroad

part |26 pages

The Korean War and its Aftermath

part |35 pages

The Vietnam War

chapter |7 pages

The Vietnam War, 1945–1975

A Historiography

chapter |9 pages

“Shaky as All Hell”

The U.S. and Nation Building in Southern Vietnam

part |36 pages

U.S. Clandestine Operations and the Cold War on the Periphery

chapter |9 pages

Eisenhower, Kennedy, and the CIA

Guatemala and the Bay of Pigs

chapter |8 pages

U.S. Troops as an Instrument in Foreign Policy

The Dominican Republic in 1965 and Grenada in 1983

part |37 pages

America and Post Cold War Interventions

chapter |9 pages

Operation Just Cause

The U.S. Invasion of Panama

chapter |9 pages

U.S. Troops in Non-Traditional Roles

Humanitarian and Peacekeeping Operations

part |30 pages

September 11, 2001 and its Aftermath

chapter |8 pages

Operation Enduring Freedom

The United States in Afghanistan

chapter |11 pages

Operation Iraqi Freedom

2003–2010