Written by leading authorities in the fields of the contemporary social, political, and diplomatic history of the United States, the essays in this volume provide a wide-ranging overview of the intentions, achievements, and failures of the Truman administration. Divided into sections on domestic politics and issues, and foreign policy and national defence, the volume gives an authoritative appraisal of some of the major events and problems of the time in the light of recent scholarship. The essays make clear the overriding importance of the wartime experience for the Truman era.