The Ghost at the Feast: America and the Collapse of World Order, 1900-1941

A comprehensive, sweeping history of America’s rise to global superpower-a follow-up to the author’s acclaimed first volume, from our nation’s earliest days to the dawn of the twentieth century.

At the turn of the twentieth century, America was at a tipping point: its population and wealth were growing rapidly, and the country had entered the world stage as a commanding political, economic, and military force. Would America retreat within their own relatively secure and geographically separate borders, or would it continue to expand its influence on an international scale?

Beginning with the honorable Spanish-American War and ending with the wreckage of World War II, Robert Kagan tracks how America’s desire to be an arbiter of peace as a young democracy has conflicted with its desire to stay neutral. Kagan shows how this moral high ground has led to mistakes and acts of ruthless ambition, but he also argues that America’s hesitation to intervene in foreign affairs has allowed fascism and tyranny to grow unchecked. Brilliant and insightful, The Ghost at the Feast strips away any illusion that America can be an isolationist country, tracing the stunningly quick dissolution of European control and the emergence of a new world order with America at its helm.