The United States of America can be treated in different ways. For some, it is a "hail on a hill" and a beacon of freedom. For others, he is a heavily armed "gendarme" who shamelessly interferes in the fate of the peoples of the planet for his own benefits and power. Anyway, there is no doubt that the United States is one of the most powerful states in the modern world. Official Washington openly postulates its exclusivity and claims global leadership. But at the beginning of the 20th century, the influence of the United States had barely begun to extend beyond the Western Hemisphere. How did the United States successfully get through the turbulent trials of the last century? How did the "stars and stripes" gain their outstanding power? And what is the flip side of the "American dream"? The book by the great modern historian Alex Kaplan will answer these and many other questions. Here is the complete history of the United States of America in the 20th century – from the burger to the Bush.