Despite the development of a consensus foreign policy during the early years of the Cold War that supported containment of the Soviet Union, there were both internationalists and pacifists who opposed the efforts of the Truman administration. These groups felt that American actions, including the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, the North Atlantic Treaty, and even the Korean War weakened the UN, threatened the Soviet Union with war, hindered European economic recovery, and promoted colonialism. Often mislabeled as isolationists, both the pacifists, with their traditional opposition to...

The Romance of History is a collection of articles and essays which reflects the varied professional interests of eminent diplomatic historian Lawrence S. Kaplan. The collection is drawn largely from Kaplan's former students--accomplished scholars in their own right--but also features senior colleagues.

Throughout a lifetime of teaching and scholarship, Kaplan has accomplished one of the most important tasks of historians: to tell stories that enlightens and provoke. He has helped probe and define two vital areas of American history: the diplomacy of the early republics and...