Empire for Liberty: A History of American Imperialism from Benjamin Franklin to Paul Wolfowitz Book

This is a very strong four stars. Empire for Liberty provides an interesting and well told account of the interaction between expansionism and liberal ideals in American foreign policy throughout its history, as encapsulated in six thought leaders in US foreign policy. It is particularly strong in explaining slavery's central effect on foreign policy decisions prior to 1860, and in it's treatment of reconstruction as a foreign policy issue. It's two weakest areas are its selection of Paul Wolfowitz as the final figure - his views may best represent the era which Immerman is talking about in that section but his actual effect on US policy doesn't seem to be on the same level as the other figures he chose - and the fact that it lacks deeper theoretical explanation. These would be most useful in explaining why trends shifted as they did, and the significance of the idea of an "Empire for Liberty" to traditional conceptions of American foreign policy. Overall, this book does a phenomenal job in presenting a grand narrative of US foreign policy, its animating ideals, and leaders' willingness to compromise those ideals, in under 240 pages