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Synopsis
Since her inception, America has promoted democracy both at home and abroad, seeking diplomatic relations further inland as well as across oceans. Little is known about these first envoys-until now. From China to Chile, Tripoli to Tahiti, Mexico to Muscat, Peter Eicher chronicles these first American envoys' experiences in foreign lands. Their stories, often stranger than fiction, are replete with intrigues, revolutions, riots, war, shipwrecks, swashbucklers, desperadoes, and bootleggers. The circumstances they faced are surprising precursors of today's headlines: Americans at war in the Middle East, intervention in Latin America, pirates off Africa, trade deficits with China. Their experiences combine to chart key trends in the development of early American foreign policy that continue to affect us today. Meticulously researched and based principally on unpublished sources, the book illuminates how American ideas, values, and power helped shape the modern world. The first Americans to raise the Stars and Stripes in distant ports faced hostile governments, physical privations, disease, isolation, and the daunting challenge of explaining American democracy to foreign rulers. Many suffered threats from tyrannical despots, some were held as slaves or hostages, others led foreign armies into battle. Some were heroes, some were scoundrels, and many perished far from home. From the American Revolution to the Civil War, Eicher profiles the characters influential to the formative period of American diplomacy and who would guide her first steps as a world power. New & Used
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What Reviewers Are Saying
"Raising the Flag is a journey of discovery, a veritable treasure trove of early ventures in American diplomacy. The book offers refreshing insights and inspiration, both for general readers and for those more closely associated with American diplomacy." - Susan R. Johnson, president of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training
"Eicher's wonderfully detailed accounts of America's early diplomats-their foibles and challenges-vividly recall the era when America's foreign fortunes were first forged in the far-flung reaches of the globe. It is mandatory reading for diplomatic history buffs." - Ambassador Robert E. Gribbin and author of In the Aftermath of Genocide: The U.S. Role in Rwanda
"Raising the Flag is a superb highlights reel of American diplomacy during its exciting first few generations after independence. Peter Eicher's anecdotes bring some of America's earliest, lesser-known envoys and their colorful adventures to life, as they struggled through the new nation's first appearances on the world stage. Enthusiastically recommended!" - Andrew C. A. Jampoler, author of Embassy to the Eastern Courts: America's Secret First Pivot Toward Asia, 1832-37
""This is a fascinating look at men who accomplished so much diplomatically in the early years of the American republic, yet are mostly forgotten. Modern diplomats often suffer the same fate-but Eicher's well-researched book will ensure that these men will be remembered and receive the plaudits they deserve." - Gene Schmiel, author of Citizen-General: Jacob Dolson Cox and the Civil War Era "Peter Eicher vividly portrays a time when U.S. representatives overseas had little more than their wits and courage to aid their efforts to protect their fellow citizens and the interests of our young Republic. His book should be required reading for all new Foreign Service Officers, and for anyone interested in American diplomacy."-Jack Zetkulic, senior U.S. foreign service officer (ret.) and adjunct professor of diplomacy at American University
"Eicher's wonderfully detailed accounts of America's early diplomats-th
"Raising the Flag is a superb highlights reel of American diplomacy during its exciting first few generations after independence
""This is a fascinating look at men who accomplished