The Forging of the American Empire

This is the story of a nation--the United States--that has conducted more than 160 wars and other military ventures while insisting that it loves peace and in the process has forged a world empire while maintaining its innocence of imperialistic designs. From Mexico to Lebanon, from China to the Dominican Republic, from Nicaragua to Vietnam, the United State has intervened regularly in the affairs of other nations. Yet the myth that Americans are benevolent, peace-loving people who will fight only to defend the rights of others lingers on; excesses and cruelties, though sometimes admitted, usually are regarded as momentary aberrations. -- Taken from book jacket flap.