Review by Booklist Review
Contemplating the Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the size of the nation, President Jefferson imagined an ""Empire of Liberty"" stretching to the Pacific. As a staunch republican, Jefferson would be appalled if his remark were associated with the trappings of kingship and imperial pomp. But if empire is defined in the broadest possible sense, Jefferson's words were prophetic. Immerwahr illustrates how American territorial expansion included control over and governance of millions of Spanish speakers and various Indian tribes who had to be forcefully subdued. The purchase of Alaska and the takeover of the Philippines and numerous islands, atolls, and archipelagos in the Pacific and Caribbean dramatically increased both the territory and population under U.S. rule. While most Americans saw their administration as a form of benign stewardship, Immerwahr stresses that the native inhabitants were often disrespected, mistreated, and marginalized. Perhaps that is an unbalanced view, but this is still a useful and informative work, since many of these overseas territories remain under our governance.--Jay Freeman Copyright 2019 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Historian Immerwahr argues in this substantial work that the U.S. is more than the 50 states its name references, and that, despite its identification with antiimperialism, for more than two centuries the U.S. has been "a partitioned country, divided into two sections, with different laws applying in each"-in short, a kind of empire. The second section is made up of territories, many of which were once called colonies, and which are now barely acknowledged in popular conceptions of the country: first, native lands near the "frontier" of the nascent country; then for a time Hawaii, Alaska, and the Philippines; and to this day places including Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. (And, Immerwahr goes on, the U.S. engages in other kinds of empirebuilding, through, for example, its massive network of overseas military bases and economic globalization.) Presentday residents of territories "have no representation in Congress... cannot vote for president... [their] rights and citizenship remain a gift from Washington," and their status as U.S. citizens is unknown by almost half of the states' population. This insightful, excellent book, with its new perspective on an element of American history that is almost totally excluded from mainstream education and knowledge, should be required reading for those on the mainland. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
What does bird guano and screw threads have to do with empire? Actually, quite a bit. Immerwahr (history, Northwestern Univ.; Thinking Small) explores U.S. history by placing America's overseas colonies and their inhabitants front and center. He shows how westward expansion served as a starting point for America's imperial dreams. In the 1850s, the United States sought out and laid claim to hundreds of islands covered in bird guano, as the excrement reinvigorated soil that was depleted of nutrients. These same islands later served as fueling stations and airfields for America's military. After World War II, with American troops occupying bases around the world, the United States gave up its empire, granting independence to many of its former colonies, such as the Philippines. Immerwahr notes that the resistance of the colonized as well as U.S. technological advantages made an empire no longer necessary. Such advantage allowed America to force other countries to adapt its standards, such as the angle threads wrapped around screws. VERDICT Through archival and secondary source research, Immerwahr recasts American history in a new light in this thought-provoking and insightful work.-Chad E. Statler, Westlake Porter P.L., Westlake, OH © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
America extends far beyond the mainland.In a richly detailed, thoroughly researched history, Immerwahr (History/Northwestern Univ.; Thinking Small: The United States and the Lure of Community Development, 2015) chronicles the vast American empire from its vigorous westward expansion on the mainland to its reach around the world. Drawing on archival sources and much scholarship, the author engagingly depicts the nation's conquests, first displacing Native Americans, followed by the claiming of uninhabited islands, the spoils of war, and strategic locations. By World War II, territories comprised nearly one-fifth of America's land area. Unacknowledged by most mainland citizens, these possessions have been relegated "to the shadows," with the populaces, at various times, "shot, shelled, starved, interned, dispossessed, tortured, and experimented on." America's early forays abroad led to the annexation of small uninhabited islandsnearly 100 of themthat were piled high with bird droppings, coveted as fertilizer. In 1898, Spain's defeat in the Spanish-American War brought a bounty: the Philippines (which the U.S. bought), Puerto Rico, Guam (which came free), and Cuba, which the U.S. occupied under military control. Later, the Virgin Islands, Samoa, and various other sites in the Pacific became American territories, which today comprise around 4 million people "who have no representation in Congress, who cannot vote for president, and whose rights and citizenship remain a gift from Washington." Immerwahr animates the narrative with a lively cast of characters: brusque, egocentric physician Cornelius P. Rhoads, for example, who conducted medical experiments on Puerto Ricans, whom he deemed "the dirtiest, laziest, most degenerate and thievish race of men ever inhabiting this sphere." Standing up for colonists' rightsoften to their frustrationwere Ernest Gruening, governor of the territory of Alaska, and Douglas MacArthur, who led troops in the Philippines during WWII. Although the U.S. has divested itself of colonies, not needed in an era of economic globalization, the nation has invested heavily in military bases, which today number around 800. "The Greater United States," the author notes, "is in everyone's backyard."A vivid recounting of imperial America's shameful past. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
