History of America

As a high-ranking journalist, Tyler has been in all the hot spots of the Middle East, but more importantly has been a close observer of the power battles centred on ten American presidents, dating back to Eisenhower.

Tyler has a very attractive style of prose which flows with eye-catching immediacy.

His description of the CIA’s fearful involvement in the “weapons of mass destruction” debacle launches the book on a wide-ranging tour of conflicts from the Suez crisis to the occupation of Iraq with crucial emphasis on the war on terror.

With a biblical sense of both terrain and politics, Tyler exposes the reality of every major event in the region over 60 years with American leadership in each distinct phase battling to tame the forces that fuel the Middle East conflict.

Two books of immense value, dealing with the history of the United States, are From Colony to Superpower (OUP, £18.99) by George C. Herring, and America: Empire of Liberty (Allen Lane, £30) by David Reynolds.

Both cover much the same territory from 1776 with George Washington dreaming of a country that “none could make afraid”.

Herring gives this desire a monumental force, dating from its political foundations, with its foreign policy stamped by an "ideological fervour and messianic streak" tinged with pragmatism and diplomacy — right through to the present turmoil in Iraq and Aghanistan.

In its interaction with the world, the author deals with many landmark events with a shrewd and enlightened intellect that makes his book an ideal addition to the Oxford History of the United States series.

Meanwhile, Reynolds takes the stage with a more popular approach to the growth of America with slavery, the Indian “Trail of Tears” and the Civil War being pivotal to America's final quest for the “liberty” envisioned by Jefferson.

This is a book of splendid versatility which dovetails creatively with Herring's own pursuit of heritage.