Dictionary of American Diplomatic History, 2nd Edition

Overall this is an outstanding compilation and one likely to be frequently consulted by students of American diplomacy. Booklist It is refreshing to find a work that really is `revised' and `expanded.' Findling has made a good reference work better by adding nearly 100 new entries to the first edition to cover the last years of the Carter presidency and most of the Reagan years. The strength of this work is Findling's treatment of personages, events, and organizations. He stresses not only the who, what, where, and how but also states the significance of the aforementioned entrants. . . . Findling gives the user helpful references for further reading on each entry. A library owning the first edition can confidently add the second. Choice

An expanded and thoroughly updated new edition of the 1980 dictionary, this is the only reference available that presents concise, 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 U.S. foreign policy and for a like number of topics and developments connected with American diplomacy.

In his introduction, John Findling discusses the broad range of source materials he has drawn on and examines the changing role of the career diplomat in the twentieth 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. An authoritative resource that is likely to remain the standard in its field, this new dictionary is an appropriate choice for the reference collections of academic, public, and government libraries.

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.