A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War and the Conquest of the American Continent is a book by Robert W. Merry published in 2009 by Simon & Schuster.^[1] The work focuses on the background and political history of the south westward expansion of the United States, the Presidency of James K. Polk, and the Mexican American War.^[2]

• Belohlavek, John M. (2011). "Reviewed work: A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War, and the Conquest of the American Continent, Robert W. Merry". The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. 109 (2): 234–236. doi:10.1353/khs.2011.0074. JSTOR 23387476. S2CID 162308482.
• Huntington, T., "A Country Of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, The Mexican War And The Conquest Of The American Continent, By Robert W. Merry", American Heritage, retrieved 1 October 2023
• McGowan, Brian M. (2011). "Reviewed work: A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War and the Conquest of the American Continent, Robert W. Merry". The Historian. 73 (3): 570–571. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6563.2011.00301_17.x. JSTOR 24455320. S2CID 143217254.
• Mead, Walter Russell (2010). "Reviewed work: A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War, and the Conquest of the American Continent, ROBERT W. MERRY". Foreign Affairs. 89 (3): 141. JSTOR 25680940.
• Morrison, M. (2010). "A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War and the Conquest of the American Continent". Louisiana State University. 12.
• Silbey, Joel H. (2012). "Reviewed work: A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War and the Conquest of the American Continent, Robert W. Merry". Presidential Studies Quarterly. 42 (2): 412–414. doi:10.1111/j.1741-5705.2012.03977.x. JSTOR 41427401.
• Wilentz, S. (20 November 2009), "Into the West", New York Times, retrieved 1 October 2023

• 2009 Hardback and ebook, Simon & Schuster.^[3]
• 2009 audiobook, Tantor Audio.
• 2010 Paperback, Simon & Schuster.

Robert W. Merry is the author of several books and an experienced journalist. He has held senior positions at multiple media organizations.^[1]

• President McKinley: Architect of the American Century by Robert W. Merry.
• A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln and the 1846 U.S. Invasion of Mexico by Amy S. Greenberg.
• Trailing Clouds of Glory: Zachary Taylor's Mexican War Campaign and His Emerging Civil War Leaders by Felice Flanery Lewis.

• Manifest Destiny
• Mexican American War
• James K. Polk