Mary Bridges examines the early twentieth-century expansion of American banking abroad, tracing how U.S. financial institutions established themselves across the globe in the decades before and after World War I. This was a formative period when American banks began operating internationally in ways that would lay the groundwork for the dollar's eventual dominance in global finance. Bridges explores the political and economic forces that drove this expansion, from the creation of the Federal Reserve to the opportunities created by European war debts. She reveals how bankers, diplomats, and policymakers worked together and at cross-purposes as American finance went global. The book examines specific institutions and the individuals who led them into foreign markets, from Latin America to Asia. Bridges shows how this period of financial globalization shaped not only banking practices but also American foreign policy and the international economic order. Drawing on extensive archival research, she illuminates a crucial but often overlooked chapter in the rise of American economic power. This scholarly work will interest readers seeking to understand the historical roots of today's global financial system and America's position within it.