Introduction; 1. 'The president's personal policy'; 2. The decision for Torch; 3. Keeping Spain out of the war: Washington's appeasement of Franco; 4. Torch, Darlan, and the French Maghreb; 5. 'The intricacies of colonial rule'; 6. 'Senior partners?'; 7. 'An investment for the future'; 8. The Tehran Conference and the Anglo-American struggle over the invasion of southern France; 9. Helping De Gaulle get his 'talons pretty deeply dug into France'; 10. Italy 'enters the postwar period'; 11. Spain, Wolfram, and the 'liberal turn'; 12. The Culbertson Mission and the open door; 13. 'Balkan-phobia?' The United States, Yugoslavia, and Greece, 1940–5; 14. 'We have become Mediterraneanites'.
This book offers a thorough reinterpretation of US engagement with the Mediterranean during World War II.
Andrew Buchanan is a Lecturer in the Department of History at the University of Vermont. He received his PhD and MA in History from Rutgers University, New Jersey, and earned his BA in Modern History from the University of Oxford. Buchanan has taught American history, global history, and various military history courses. He has published articles on various aspects of the diplomatic, military, and cultural history of World War II in publications including the Journal of Contemporary History, Diplomacy and Statecraft, the Journal of Transatlantic Studies, and Global War Studies.
'This book is a fine piece of research and analysis. Scholars of
World War II, US diplomatic history, and twentieth-century
international relations will all find much of value, and general
readers and university students will also want to give close
attention to Buchanan's work. Buchanan does an excellent job of
showing the importance of the Mediterranean
military-diplomatic-economic theater as it developed from 1940 to
the early Cold War. Through this, he has produced a major work of
research and interpretation on a vitally important subject.' David
Mayers, Boston University
'Among the many myths still alive from World War II is the belief
that the Americans were reluctant participants in the Mediterranean
war effort, pulled there by an ambitious Churchill. Andrew Buchanan
demolishes that myth with a carefully constructed and convincing
dissection of the American side of the story, to show that
Roosevelt was happy to play a part in the Mediterranean because it
would seal America's emergence post-war as the global successor to
the collapsing British Empire. This is an original and
path-breaking contribution to a subject long assumed to have been
signed and sealed, and a challenge for historians to revisit other
apparent certainties with the same critical acumen.' Richard
Overy
'Andrew Buchanan's study transforms our understanding both of
America's wartime strategy and of the war in the Mediterranean.
This important book deserves widespread attention.' Jeremy
Black
'In this fascinating and well-crafted study, Andrew Buchanan shows
how the United States rose to become the predominant power in the
Mediterranean region, and brings forward insights regarding the
complex interconnections between the politics of liberation,
American economic and cultural expansion, and Washington's
strategic imperatives.' Matthew Jones, author of Britain, the
United States and the Mediterranean War, 1942–1944
'American Grand Strategy in the Mediterranean during World War II
makes an important contribution to the existing historiography of
the war. Buchanan advocates for a new interpretation of the events.
Suggesting that the Mediterranean was not a 'peripheral' theater
for the United States, he argues convincingly that America was an
active participant in the region; gradually assumed the lead role,
forcing the British to take a back seat; and had substantive grand
strategic interests in the Mediterranean. Buchanan's book should
appeal to a wide audience, including both interested lay readers
and World War II scholars.' Mary Kathryn Barbier, H-Diplo
'A major and important reinterpretation of US policies and
strategies in the Mediterranean during World War II.' Mark Stoller,
author of Allies and Adversaries: The Joint Chiefs of Staff, the
Grand Alliance, and US Strategy in World War II
'American Grand Strategy in the Mediterranean during the Second
World War makes an important contribution to the existing
historiography of the war. Buchanan advocates for a new
interpretation of the events. Suggesting that the Mediterranean was
not a 'peripheral' theater for the United States, he argues
convincingly that America was an active participant in the region;
gradually assumed the lead role, forcing the British to take a back
seat; and had substantive grand strategic interests in the
Mediterranean. Buchanan's book should appeal to a wide audience,
including both interested lay readers and World War II scholars.'
Mary Kathryn Barbier, H-Diplo Roundtable Review
'This is a fascinating and informative account of US involvement in
the Mediterranean during World War Two. The book provides a wealth
of detail drawn from the archives on the development of
intra-administration policy in the US and especially on US
relations with the British.' Dan Plesch, H-Diplo Roundtable
Review
'Regardless of whether readers share Buchanan's critical view of
American globalism, they will profit from reading his well-written,
thoroughly researched, and passionately argued book. He has
succeeded in illuminating many hidden dimensions of a well-known
episode in American foreign policy, and will inspire his readers to
think harder about Roosevelt's geopolitical legacy.' Avshalom
Rubin, H-Diplo Roundtable Review
'Buchanan's book - which is well written and well researched -
makes for fascinating reading … This is an important work. It not
only fundamentally changes our understanding of the Roosevelt
administration's wartime policy in the Mediterranean, but also
places America's involvement in this region within the larger
military, political and economic context of the war. Thanks to
Buchanan's efforts, this much maligned and oft-overlooked
'peripheral theatre', may now take its rightful place as an
integral part of the overarching effort to win the war in Europe.'
David B. Woolner, H-Diplo Roundtable Review
'This book succeeds as a comprehensive and convincing analysis of
America's grand strategy in the Mediterranean. It is worthy of
study by scholars of American diplomatic history, Anglo-U.S.
relations, and, of course, the Mediterranean region during the
Second World War. … scholars interested in the processes of
peaceful power-transitions and how new global orders are
constructed will find the work useful. Buchanan's engaging writing
style will also appeal to even a casual reader of Second World War
history interested in something beyond purely military-centric
narratives of such an important period in human history.' Alexander
Salt, Canadian Military History
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
