How to Hide an Empire- A History of the Greater United States by Daniel Immerwahr
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Web ID: 16778236Unique take on the U.S.
Very informative and enlightening.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Rebuttal to amazon reviewers-
This is the first book i have read/listened to by this author and I would listen to another. If you think Americans can and have never done wrong, don’t read this book. If you’d like to learn, this is the book for you. In response to the reviewer “Susan - How to beat a straw man to death”- yes, the author outlines the ugly side of political and societal leaders, but he does not, as she says “seemed to think white, American men were unique in their racist, ugly, nationalistic, and patriarchal views of the world”. In fact, he mentions how many times Americans actually fought against the way a political leader behaved, but in the end, often did a similar thing. Problem is, typically we don’t often learn about the less savory things done by American people. We have presidents like Roosevelt who did a great many wonderful things, but also did some not great things- like he was keen to have a war. You can’t explain American history without mentioning the motivations behind many political actions. Like annexing land, but only areas of low population as not to acquire too many people of other nationalities/races. That’s an interesting strategy that explains a lot and can be seen carried over into current American views. Acquire Puerto Rico, American Samoa, etc, but not make them a part of the United States, just a territory. At the time, the motivation was to use a word different than “colony” since we’d fought for independence from being a colony of England and the idea of colonies was unpopular. This book was not like ” hanging out with the "mean girl," who was gleefully spreading all the terrible gossip she could and twisting things to support her agenda.” Or like another reviewer said “We get it, the US is always wrong”. The books purely stated things without the shiny, superficial or sugar coated ‘Americans are the best, the strongest, the richest and can’t do wrong’ attitude and instead logically laid out the decisions, actions and results of events that have lead the United States to where we are today and reminds us there is more to the USA than just what is on North America. The how and why there is more was fascinating to learn about. There are mentions of the actions of other countries and their role in the control of or colonization of countries now a part of the USA, but if the author went into more detail about them this book would be too long and no longer the story of HOW TO HIDE AN EMPIRE. For an over 17 hour listen, I can’t believe I’ve already listened to 7 hours. I feel like I could listen to the rest and then 17 more. This book is well laid out, with many ‘ah ha’ moments as I learned the background to many events and policies and presidential intentions. He does not just offer opinions but uses quotes from people involved with the events of the time. This book should be added to every school curriculum, whether homeschool or public. What a fascinating listen. This is the first book I have listened to by this narrator ( Luis Moreno ) and I would definitely listen to another. He does a great job narrating this content. His style, diction and cadence was perfect and clear and I could listen to him for many more hours. His narration along with the authors writing style allowed me to take everything in the first time without feeling I missed something and needed to re-listen to parts. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and voluntarily left this unbiased review. Please feel free to comment on whether you found my review helpful. Story 5/5 Narration 5/5
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Unique
As a reader, I looked for ways that authors will use to captivate their reading audience. As an example, the writer, Daniel Immerwahr, used a simple quote from a Philippine native, Alfrredo Navarro Salanga, who said, “The only problem is they don’t think much about us in America.” This simple quote made me want to read further about the United States’ ventures as a colonial power. Our founding fathers, some of whom became political leaders, felt the need to expand beyond the thirteen states by crossing over the Allegheny Mountains into new virgin soil. Daniel Boone and others spearheaded the thrust for new land for white settlers, but with a significant price tag of removing the native Indians further West. The annexation of Texas, the discovery of gold in California, and the mining of silver in Nevada and Colorado increased the migration rate of white settlers under the guise of “manifest destiny” (p. 36, Immerwahr). The oversea adventures began soon after the Gadsden Purchase of 1854, by annexing small islands without indigenous populations throughout the Caribbean Sea for its “white gold” known known as bird droppings used as fertilizer in the states (p. 47, Immerwahr). The oversea expansion began with the Spanish-American War of 1898, which became the pinnacle period for American imperialism. The quest for growth into the Pacific regions of the world started with a concept made by Captain Alfred Mahan’s treatise of 1890. The American Navy needed seaports throughout the world if America is to become a world sea power. His treatise even galvanized the need to build a canal in the narrow regions of Central America, namely the Panama Canal Zone. Empire building came with a high price tag in terms of military occupation and civil unrest from the indigenous population. The concept of empire-building became outdated when new technologies of the twentieth century made raw resources chiefly rubber and fertilizer from faraway places unnecessary through synthetic production of those products. World War II also gave rise to the colonized countries to break away from their European powers and the United States. From lessons learned, the United States government uses diplomacy and economic assistance to expand its influence throughout the world.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com