The United States and World War II is a broad-ranging introduction to the second world war in America. The politics, diplomacy, and military strategy of the war form the core of the book. The author takes a chronological approach, offering a narrative history, while highlighting and developing key thematic links through the chapters. Exemplary material substantiates thematic points and enlivens the text, while historiographical issues are addressed as appropriate throughout the narrative. The narrative begins in the late 1930s, proving that an understanding of the second world war as a transforming event requires discussion of the prior state of affairs, and ends with a consideration of the legacy of the war and its continuing significance.