Dictionary of American Diplomatic History, 2nd Edition

(Hardback, 2nd Revised edition)

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An expanded and updated edition of the 1980 dictionary, this reference work presents analytical articles on the main actors and events in American diplomatic history from the founding of the Republic to the present. It offers separate entries for nearly 600 individuals who have had a significant impact on US foreign policy and for a like number of topics and developments connected with American diplomacy. In his introduction, Professor Findling discusses the broad range of source materials he has drawn on and examines the changing role of the career diplomat in the 20th century. Biographical entries cover Secretaries of State, Ambassadors and others who have influenced foreign policy, such as congressmen, correspondents and broadcasters, diplomatic historians, presidential advisers and entrepreneurs. Topic entries range from major crises and international negotiations to the catchwords and slogans that have shaped and mobilized public opinion throughout the nation's history. Comments on the historical importance of the subject and selected, updated bibliographies are supplied.

Reviews

An expanded and revised edition of the 1980 work this includes some 1200 entries (up from about 1000 in the first edition) on individuals, topics, and events associated with American diplomacy from the Revolution to 1988. The previous edition went up to 1979. LJ 's reviewer called the entries a well-balanced and sensible selection, ' and was particularly impressed with the bibliographical notes and sources for further study, and the extensive cross-referencing, still evident in the new edition. Academic and large public libraries should consider.-Library Journal
The excellent definitions, the pertinent though brief bibliographies, the thorough index, and the many useful appendixes make this an excellent subject dictionary. The work should prove useful in academic, large public, and high school libraries. Recommended.-Reference Books Bulletin
This work is much more than a dictionary. One can "have it both ways with this book. Each entry compacts the essentials, without the need for further research--while also providing a bibliographical citation for further exploration.-ASIL
When Findling, a history professor at Indiana University Southeast, published the first edition of this work in 1980, it instantly became the best one-volume reference work on U.S. diplomatic history. This second edition has been completely revised and updated to July 1988. Of the more than 1,200 entries, approximately half are biographical sketches of the major movers and shakers' in American diplomatic history; the remainder focus on the principal treaties, incidents, interventions, and conferences since 1776. . . . There are the usual Greenwood appendixes, including a chronology, a selected list of manuscript and oral history sources for persons included in the text, and a list of biographees by state of birth. Most useful is the list of key diplomatic personnel arranged by presidential administration. A very detailed index concludes the book. Overall, this is an outstanding compilation and one likely to be frequently consulted by students of American diplomacy.-Reference Books Bulletin
"An expanded and revised edition of the 1980 work this includes some 1200 entries (up from about 1000 in the first edition) on individuals, topics, and events associated with American diplomacy from the Revolution to 1988. The previous edition went up to 1979. LJ 's reviewer called the entries a well-balanced and sensible selection, ' and was particularly impressed with the bibliographical notes and sources for further study, and the extensive cross-referencing, still evident in the new edition. Academic and large public libraries should consider."-Library Journal
"The excellent definitions, the pertinent though brief bibliographies, the thorough index, and the many useful appendixes make this an excellent subject dictionary. The work should prove useful in academic, large public, and high school libraries. Recommended."-Reference Books Bulletin
"This work is much more than a dictionary. One can "have it both ways with this book. Each entry compacts the essentials, without the need for further research--while also providing a bibliographical citation for further exploration."-ASIL
"When Findling, a history professor at Indiana University Southeast, published the first edition of this work in 1980, it instantly became the best one-volume reference work on U.S. diplomatic history. This second edition has been completely revised and updated to July 1988. Of the more than 1,200 entries, approximately half are biographical sketches of the major movers and shakers' in American diplomatic history; the remainder focus on the principal treaties, incidents, interventions, and conferences since 1776. . . . There are the usual Greenwood appendixes, including a chronology, a selected list of manuscript and oral history sources for persons included in the text, and a list of biographees by state of birth. Most useful is the list of key diplomatic personnel arranged by presidential administration. A very detailed index concludes the book. Overall, this is an outstanding compilation and one likely to be frequently consulted by students of American diplomacy."-Reference Books Bulletin

Author Bio

JOHN E. FINDLING is Professor of History at Indiana University Southeast. His publications include the first edition of Dictionary of American Diplomatic History (1980) and a recent study entitled Close Neighbors, Distant Friends: U.S. Central American Relations. He is currently working on a historical dictionary of worlds fairs and expositions.