William Appleman Williams (1921–1990)
Author of The Tragedy of American Diplomacy
About the Author
The leading "revisionist" historian during the years of the cold war, William Appleman Williams played a major role in shaping the perceptions of a generation of young historians. His best-known book, The Tragedy of American Diplomacy (1959), established themes he would pursue throughout his career show more as a writer and a teacher---the contradictions between ideals and "practicality" in the conduct of U.S. foreign policy and the centrality of economic factors in the nation's world outlook. Product of a solidly rural Iowa background and a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Williams nonetheless became a figure of controversy because of his unconventional, often iconoclastic, observations about the American experience and his subjection of capitalism to a searching criticism that borrowed freely from Karl Marx, even as it rejected doctrinaire Marxism. At a time when most historians subscribed to a generally benevolent view of the nation's past and of its role in world affairs, Williams's freewheeling critiques often irritated the older generation of scholars. Yet they also opened the way for younger historians to break from the "consensus" school of history and enter into previously unexplored pathways to the American past. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Disambiguation Notice:
Do not combine with "William A. Williams, D.D.".
Works by William Appleman Williams
Empire As A Way of Life: An Essay on the Causes and Character of America's Present Predicament Along with a Few… (1980) 70 copies
The Roots of the Modern American Empire: A Study of the Growth and Shaping of Social Consciousness in a Marketplace… (1969) 33 copies
The great evasion: An essay on the contemporary relevance of Karl Marx and on the wisdom of admitting the heretic into… (1964) 30 copies
The shaping of American diplomacy; readings and documents in American foreign relations, 1750-1955 (1956) 23 copies
The United States, Cuba, and Castro; an essay on the dynamics of revolution and the dissolution of empire (1962) 7 copies
Americans in a Changing World: A History of the United States in the Twentieth Century (1978) 6 copies
Storia degli Stati Uniti 1 copy
Associated Works
For a new America; essays in history and politics from Studies on the left, 1959-1967 (1970) — Contributor — 18 copies
Street signs Chicago : neighborhood and other illusions of big city life (1981) — Foreword — 12 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Williams, William Appleman
- Birthdate
- 1921-06-12
- Date of death
- 1990-04-09
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Atlantic, Iowa, USA
- Place of death
- Newport, Oregon, USA
- Places of residence
- Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Corpus Christi, Texas, USA
Waldport, Oregon, USA - Education
- United States Naval Academy (BS ∙ Engineering)
University of Wisconsin-Madison (MA ∙ History ∙ PhD ∙ [1958]) - Occupations
- professor (history)
historian - Relationships
- Williams, Wendy (wife)
Williams, Ward (son)
Williams, Kyenne (daughter)
Williams, Savoy Jade (daughter)
Williams, Justin (stepson)
Williams, Kathy (stepdaughter) - Organizations
- Oregon State University (1968-1988)
University of Wisconsin-Madison (1957-1968)
University of Oregon (1952-1957)
Organization of American Historians (President, 1980) - Awards and honors
- Fulbright Fellowship
- Disambiguation notice
- Do not combine with "William A. Williams, D.D.".
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Statistics
- Works
- 24
- Also by
- 4
- Members
- 729
- Popularity
- #34,830
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 5
- ISBNs
- 33
- Favorited
- 3