The Foreign Service Journal, November 2015

32 NOVEMBER 2015 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL HISTORYAND BIOGRAPHY Latin American Rebels and the United States, 1806-1822 Gordon S. Brown, McFarland and Company Inc., 2015, $39.95/paperback; $24.99/ Kindle, 206 pages. In Latin American Rebels , Gordon S. Brown immerses us in the social, political and economic world of America during the early 1800s, when it was confronted with a problem: Should the United States support the many separatist revolts occurring in Spanish American colonies at this time, or should it keep the very firm policy of neutrality it had held since the end of the Revolutionary War? Americans were sharply divided on the issue. Many directly identified with the rebels’ fight for freedom, having participated in their own struggle for independence a few short decades earlier; others pointed to the danger in getting involved in European affairs, particularly during the complex and tumultu- ous Napoleonic Wars. The conflict brought the idea of “American interests” into sharp focus. This is a lively study of a unique juncture in American his- tory that is not often addressed by modern historians. Readers will recognize its echoes in today’s foreign policy challenges— uneasy neighbors, contested loyalties, decisions that must be made regarding intervention versus neutrality. Gordon S. Brown is a retired Foreign Service officer living in Washington, D.C. He served as the U.S. ambassador to Mauri- tania from 1991 to 1994. Since retiring, he has written six books, including The Norman Conquest of Southern Italy and Sicily , Toussaint’s Clause: The Founding Fathers and the Haitian Revolu- tion, and Incidental Architect: WilliamThornton and the Cultural Life of Early Washington, D.C., 1794-1828 . He is a member of the Foreign Service Journal Editorial Board. The American Consul: A History of the United States Consular Service, 1776-1924 Charles Stuart Kennedy, New Academia Publishing, 2015, $26/paperback, 311 pages. In this new and expanded edition of The American Consul, the definitive work on the subject originally published in 1990, Charles Stuart Kennedy traces the beginnings of the U.S. consular service back to the time of American independence. At that time, American consuls were not confined to world capitals and quasi- embassies; they were in a unique position to take a hands-on approach to looking after Americans abroad in exciting port cities. In covering the period from 1776 to 1924, Kennedy demon- strates how American consuls played significant roles in the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the American Civil War and the Spanish-American War, as well as World War I. The book also introduces some very interesting characters, since consular appointments were often used as a reward for authors and public intellectuals. Most notably, Nathaniel Hawthorne, James Fenimore Cooper and William Dean Howells served in the American consular service. new bibliography of books by USAID authors, courtesy of retired USAID FSO John Pielemeier (see p. 40) . And, as usual, we include a list of books “of related interest” to diplomats and their families that were not written by FS authors. Our primary purpose in presenting “InTheir Own Write” each year is to celebrate the wealth of literary talent within the Foreign Service community, and to give our readers the oppor- tunity to support colleagues by sampling their wares. Each entry contains full publication data along with a short commentary. As has been the case for nearly a decade, a majority of the titles are self-published. Once again, although many of these books are available elsewhere, we encourage you to use the AFSA website’s online bookstore to place your orders. The AFSA Bookstore has links to Amazon and, at no extra cost to you, each book sold there generates a small royalty for AFSA. For the few books that cannot be ordered through Amazon, we have provided alternative links or, when the book is not available online, the necessary contact information. If you are in the D.C. area, be sure to mark your calendars for the second annual AFSA Book Market on Nov. 19. Enjoy a cup of tea while you chat with FS authors and browse their offerings from 1 to 4 p.m. at AFSA headquarters. —Susan Brady Maitra, Managing Editor