J robert moskin biography of martin

American Statecraft: The Story of the U.S. Foreign Service by  J. Robert Moskin, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2013, ISBN 978-1-250-03745-9 (hardcover), ISBN 978-1-250-03746-6 (e-book), 932 pp., $28.97 (Hardcover), $ 19.99 (Kindle).

In our twittering, 140-characters age, a book of 932 pages that doesn’t reveal USG sex or drug scandals is unlikely to be read by the wider public. So, it would be a minor miracle if J. Robert Moskin’s workmanlike, overlong, American Statecraft: The Story of the U.S. Foreign Service, will ever suffer from excessive media hype or bestseller status.

Moskin, a Look magazine editor for 19 years, aptly titles his book a “story.” His work doesn’t pretend to be a specialized academic history. It’s a readable (but at times overpacked) narrative organized, for the most part, in the old-fashioned way — chronologically.

Don’t search for a portentous “thesis” with Moskin. His skimpy introduction and no concluding chapter su J robert moskin biography of martin johnson.