Thinking Otherwise: How Walter LaFeber Explained the History of Us Foreign Relations

Thinking Otherwise addresses the question of what makes a great historian by exploring the teaching and scholarship of Walter LaFeber, widely acclaimed as the most distinguished historian of US foreign relations. This volume of essays, edited by Susan A. Brewer, Richard H. Immerman, and Douglas Little, is a testament to a scholar who published more than a dozen books during his time at Cornell University, where he delivered legendary lectures for half a century.

The chapters trace LaFeber’s journey as a scholar and demonstrate his enduring influence on the history of US foreign relations by linking six of his monographs to his abiding concern about the fate of the American experiment from the 18th century to the present.

Thinking Otherwise explains and assesses the scholarship of a historian whose work became canonical in his lifetime and continues to resonate throughout public policy debates.

Susan Brewer is Professor Emerita of History at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. She is the author of Why America Fights, To Win the Peace, and The Best Land.

Richard H. Immerman is Marvin Wachman Director Emeritus of the Center for the Study of Force and Diplomacy at Temple University, where he was also a Professor of History.

Douglas Little is Robert and Virginia Scotland Professor of History and International Relations Emeritus at Clark University.