AMERICAN STATECRAFT: The Story of the U.S. Foreign Service
Written by award-winning historian and journalist J. Robert Moskin, this is the first comprehensive book telling the story of America’s diplomatic corps, from the days of Ben Franklin through the 2013 induction of John Kerry as Secretary of State. Moskin profiles the men and women behind the scenes whose dedication and sacrifices have been a crucial part of our history for over two centuries, and who laid the foundation for the craft of American diplomacy.
Moskin spent more than 15 years researching this book, criss-crossing the globe to conduct hundreds of interviews with people both in and out of the State Department. The result is a book that tells this intricate history in narrative form, and also recounts the maturation of the United States through the lens of foreign diplomacy. Today, our diplomats work to find markets for American business, rescue citizens in trouble abroad, and most important act as America’s “first line of defense” in policy negotiations, keeping the U.S. out of war. It took generations to polish these skills, and Moskin traces this bumpy history from the amateur days of the 18th century through to the recent Benghazi attack and its fallout.
Published by Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martins Press