I've always been fascinated by how huge of a role the U.S. plays in the world and how quickly they rose to prominence. However, when tracing the history of the U.S. I always get caught up right around WWII and the immediate years after. So much happens that I often feel that I'm missing something. I love how during that period you see the U.S. assuming a lot of the financial and military obligations of the British, essentially Britain saying "ok, you're the new western strongman, the British empire is over." (and yes I know the first world war was what sent the British empire into it's death spiral. It was just so final after WWII). New global economic systems like the BIS, world bank, etc really change the economic paradigm and the U.S. is just IN EVERY COUNTRY controlling things. I get tangled up and end up with a million tabs open trying to get an understanding about early modern global power dynamics.

So what I'm looking for would be anyone who has any recommended reading or a way to organize my research to learn more about the construction of our modern world which seems to have it's birth in a certain sense in the American post WWII systems of control. Also, I would love if any of the awesome historians on here could give me their own explanation of those times, but It's such a broad question I know it may be a pain in the ass.