We travel to the Guano Islands, where prospectors collected one of the nineteenth century’s most valuable commodities, and the Philippines, site of the most destructive event on U.S.
In crackling, fast-paced prose, he reveals forgotten episodes that cast American history in a new light. In How to Hide an Empire, Daniel Immerwahr tells the fascinating story of the United States outside the United States. But what about the actual territories-the islands, atolls, and archipelagos-this country has governed and inhabited? And we are also familiar with the idea that the United States is an “empire,” exercising power around the world. RSVP HERE (Please note that your RSVP is requested but not required.)Ībout the Book: We are familiar with maps that outline all fifty states.
He will be joined in conversation by Jonathan Levy. was the easiest part of the exam."A richly detailed, thoroughly researched history… the author engagingly depicts the nations' conquests… Immerwahr animates the narrative with a lively cast of characters… A vivid recounting of imperial America's shameful past."- Kirkus (Starred Review)Ī discussion with Daniel Immerwahr, author of How to Hide an Empire. After quoting President William McKinley as saying he wasn’t sure exactly where the Philippines were, he writes: “The geography section. His occasional attempts to be jocular fall flat. And do we need a whole chapter on how English became the world language? A sign of American influence, yes, but surely the British empire’s spread around the globe had even more to do with it. The only connection to the American empire is that a previous source of fertilizer nitrates was the uninhabited “guano islands” in the Pacific and Caribbean claimed by the United States in the 19th century. The same man also figured out how to extract nitrogen from the air for use in fertilizer. He tells us, for instance, about the unhappy marriage of a distant cousin of his to the German chemist who invented the first poison gas used in World War I.
Immerwahr sometimes wanders far afield, almost like a psychoanalysis patient in free association.
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