How to Hide an Empire: A Short History of the Greater United States

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A grandson of Congregationalist missionaries, Sanford Dole (also a relative of the pineapple baron-to-be, James Dole) became the first president of the territory. Immerwahr provides a riveting breakdown of the latest phase of American empire — the post–World War II era. Tremendous look at the United States empire, and how it has somehow managed to convince itself, if nobody else, that it isn't an imperialist colonial power. the United States replaced colonies with chemistry,' and partially 'substituted technology for territory. Particularly, the first half to two thirds of the book is very engrossing - the details of the events the author is describing are truly horrific and I was frankly appalled that I didn’t know any of it.

But there's also a lot on other non-tangible empire building, especially standardisation (genuinely fascinating chapter) and language.These developments and others such as containerisation helped shape the world into what it is today. But as the author says, even his less extreme version is reminiscent of the more modern ‘cure’ of water boarding. The US maintained its empire by codifying standards for everything--from screws to instruments and to stop signs.

By focusing on the processes by which Americans acquired, controlled, and were affected by territory, Daniel Immerwahr shows that the United States was not just another “empire,” but was a highly distinctive one the dimensions of which have been largely ignored. Part of the objection was social; the founders were men of culture and sophistication who found rough frontier life troubling. A chapter on the pervasive presence of US bases shows how those who benefited from them have turned on their “benefactor” for instance, the Beatles played in Liverpool clubs that would not exist were it not for the local military base; SONY benefited in many ways from the US occupation of Japan and most stunningly, Osama Bin Laden whose family wealth stemmed from the US presence in Saudi Arabia. The book begins with the westward expansion into “territories” and how they were managed like colonies. Immerwahr is undoubtedly keen to expose the brutal impact on the oft-forgotten territories, to tell the real stories of the people affected, but he also refers to the developments made possible by empire and war.It is brilliantly conceived, utterly original, and immensely entertaining — simultaneously vivid, sardonic and deadly serious. but] 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 . Puerto Ricans were granted US citizenship but not sovereignty in 1917, the meaning of which continues to be demonstrated.