Written by leading historians and political scientists, this collection of essays offers a broad and comprehensive coverage of the role of war in American history. Addressing the role of the armed force, and attitudes towards it, in shaping and defining the United States, the first four chapters reflect the perspectives of historians on this central question, from the time of the American Revolution to the US wars in Vietnam and Iraq. Chapters five and six offer the views of political scientists on the topic, one in light of the global systems theory, the other from the perspective of domestic opinion and governance.

Introduction : perspectives on American power and empire / A. James Fuller -- Defining a new empire : the new power takes shape, 1775-1815 / Jeremy Black -- The United States as rogue state : gunboat persuasion, citizen marauders, and the limits of antebellum American imperialism / Robert E. May -- Billy Yank and Johnny Reb take on the world : Civil War veterans' views of war, liberty, and empire / Carol Reardon -- Defining Eisenhower's America : war, power, and race relations, 1941-1961 / Edward O. Frantz -- Cold War perceptions and the American experience of war / R. William Ayres -- From Vietnam to Iraq : the first television war and its legacies / Chester Pach -- Global war and the foundations of US systemic leadership / William R. Thompson -- Domestic challenges to American hegemony / Steven W. Hook -- Soft power, hard power, and the Pax Americana / Lawrence Sondhaus.