Just finished reading Part 1 and Part 2 of the Cambridge History of American Foreign Relations, I highly recommend it if you are interested in American history.

Part 1 "The Republican Empire", stretches from colonial US to 1865, and Part 2 from 1865-1913.

I won't lie, it does not give a very savoury view of American history, or government, but the amount of juicy details does make it fascinating. And it is not as if we read history to pat ourselves on the back anyhow.

Overall they are both pretty short just ~200 pages or so, but both authors are excellent.

My view of the War of 1812 dramatically changed, and be ready to lose all faith in Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, in favour of the calculating John Adams. Although foreign relations meant little in the early US, it came to define the nation, and most Presidents of the 18th and 19th centuries were previously Secretary of State's.