Given the expansive reach of this sturdy collection, historians in many fields will surely find gold somewhere within its boundaries.

Journal of American History

A thought-provoking book.

Raymond D. Screws, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Great Plains Quarterly

The Louisiana Purchase marked the true beginning of the American expansion into Thomas Jefferson's 'Empire of Liberty.' This fascinating collection explores how the American urge to reach outward, first across the continent and then across the globe, has remade America itself, often in ways that were unforeseen and unwelcome. The story of nineteenth-century American expansion, beginning with Louisiana and ending with Puerto Rico, is well worth considering in an era of globalization and global conflicts at the opening of the twenty-first century.

Keith E. Whittington, Princeton University