"Riveting. Insightful. Beinart is a gifted writer who really knows how to tell a story, and in this case the story itself happens to be endlessly fascinating. What the book perhaps does best is to link foreign-policy behavior not only to the personalities of presidents and cabinet officials, but also to the embodied philosophical currents of the day and to the social and economic circumstances in which they reside." - Adam Garfinkle, National Review "Beinart possesses the analytical skills of a seasoned historian. He''s a smart, reasoned political analyst who doesn''t resort to hyperbole and hysteria when making a point. The result is a book that''s generally enlightening." - The San Francisco Chronicle "With this book Beinart vindicates his standing as one of the major thinkers of his generation on the United States'' world role.

" - Walter Russell Mead, Foreign Affairs " The Icarus Syndrome is a readable survey of ''America in the world'' over the past hundred years. Nothing is more chilling than Beinart''s catalog of the continuous, wrong-headed invocation of ''Munich'' and ''appeasement.''" - Geoffrey Wheatcroft, The New York Review of Books "A highly readable and useful hundred-year account of American ventures abroad that can serve as a path to understanding the past failures and uncovering why policy renewal is now proving so elusive. Beinart usefully grapples with the practical impediments to making good policy." - Leslie H. Gelb, The New York Times Book Review "Beinart is at his most illuminating when he lingers on forgotten episodes that reveal how difficult it is to understand the implications of any event at any given moment--the extent to which everyone is a prisoner of past failure or past success. The Icarus Syndrome is history with an argumentative purpose." - George Packer, The New Yorker "Beinart is at his most illuminating when he lingers on forgotten episodes that reveal how difficult it is to understand the implications of any event at any given moment--the extent to which everyone is a prisoner of past failure or past success.

" - George Packer, The New Yorker "Compelling. A thoughtful book that might spark healthy debate on the use of American power." - Booklist "Informative and engaging. Beinart''s book tackles a great deal of material in an approachable, yet never simplistic, way. The Icarus Syndrome is a valuable addition to the public debate about the United States''s ever evolving role in the world." - The Boston Globe "A rollicking history. Beinart is a wonderful storyteller. There''s not much that he leaves out of The Icarus Syndrome .

(It''s exactly the book I wish I''d had when I was teaching American foreign policy.) Beinart has the writing chops to infuse the story with the dramatic tension and flair it deserves. He sincerely believes that ideas matter in world politics." - Newsweek "Impressive. Mr Beinart has produced an original and ambitious study." - The Economist "A rollicking history. Beinart is a wonderful storyteller. There''s not much that he leaves out of The Icarus Syndrome .

(It''s exactly the book I wish I''d had when I was teaching American foreign policy.)" - Newsweek "A brilliant new book about the pendulum swings of U.S. foreign policy between excessive ambition and excessive retrenchment." - The Los Angeles Times "Powerful. An insightful and enjoyable account of the ideas and individuals that have animated America''s global ambitions over the past century. The Icarus Syndrome dwells on the thinkers, great and small, in and out of government, who have debated foreign policy throughout the decades. Beinart deftly chronicles the battles among these thinkers and their worldviews.

Required reading." - The Washington Post "Powerful. An insightful and enjoyable account of the ideas and individuals that have animated America''s global ambitions over the past century. Required reading." - The Washington Post "Energetically researched and entertainingly written, Peter Beinart''s The Icarus Syndrome is both a fascinating intellectual history and an important coming-of-age parable about his generation''s hard-learned lesson in the limits of American power." - Jane Mayer, author of The Dark Side "Peter Beinart has written a vivid, empathetic, and convincing history of the men and ideas that have shaped the ambitions of American foreign policy during the last century--a story in which human fallibility and idealism flow together. Beinart''s book is not only timely; it is indispensible." - Steve Coll, author of Ghost Wars " The Icarus Syndrome does what works of history and journalism do at their very best: use the past to illuminate, in often stark and surprising ways, the challenges of the present.

This is an important book." - Jon Meacham, author of American Lion "Beinart''s The Icarus Syndrome is very much a book with a message: a cautionary message to avoid hubris and to recognize the messy reality of world politics." - Paul Kennedy, author of The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers " The Icarus Syndrome is a confident and contentious history of more than a century of American foreign policy and its recurring tragic flaws." - Sean Wilentz, author of The Age of Reagan "A century of unwise American military adventures is probed in this perceptive study of foreign policy over-reach. Beinart''s analyses are consistently lucid and provocative. The book amounts to a brief for moderation, good sense, humility, and looking before leaping--virtues that merit Beinart''s spirited, cogent defense." - Publishers Weekly "Beinart''s The Icarus Syndrome is not of course the first study of America''s tendency towards imperial temptations, but it is one of the best, and certainly one of the best-researched and best-written. And since the cyclical pattern he traces seems to be as pertinent today as it was in the eras of Woodrow Wilson and Lyndon Johnson, this is very much a book with a message: a cautionary message to avoid hubris and to recognize the messy reality of world politics.

" - Paul Kennedy, author of The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers "Why do we succomb to hubris? Peter Beinart has written a highly intelligent and wonderfully readable book that answers the question by looking at a century of American foreign policy. As with everything Beinart writes, it is lucid, thoughtful and strikingly honest." - Fareed Zakaria, author of The Post-American World "With this perceptive and provocative book, Peter Beinart has given us a compelling argument about our times. The Icarus Syndrome does what works of history and journalism do at their very best: use the past to illuminate, in often stark and surprising ways, the challenges of the present. This is an important book." - Jon Meacham, author of American Lion " The Icarus Syndrome is a confident and contentious history of more than a century of American foreign policy and its recurring tragic flaws. Agree or not with all of Peter Beinart''s specific interpretations, one can only admire his effort to understand the cycles of modern American diplomacy and statecraft, and his timely warnings about the temptations of pride." - Sean Wilentz, author of The Age of Reagan "Peter Beinart has written a vivid, empathetic, and convincing history of the men and ideas that have shaped the ambitions of American foreign policy during the last century--a story in which human fallibility and idealism flow together.

The story continues, of course, and so his book is not only timely; it is indispensible." - Steve Coll, author of Ghost Wars.