In 1895, an insurrection in Cuba drew interest from many segments of American society. As the destruction on the island increased, Congress and the media focused popular attention on America's lost property and trade, Spanish cruelty, and the looming humanitarian crisis. By 1898, the nation was engaged in a war that would both help define America as a great power, and translate the emerging progressive political values into the exercise of foreign policy.

 The Spanish American War introduces this conflict to undergraduates-- integrating the political history of the war with the public policy and humanitarian concerns of the time. In this short text, Pomakoy contexualizes the insurrection, the subsequent war, and its legacy. With the aid of letters from political leaders, trial documents, and personal accounts, this book covers a crucial military event while introducing the complex and formative fin-de-siècle America.