Customer Reviews

Habits of Empire: A History of American Expansion

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In some ways this is a surprisingly iconoclastic but not an entirely polemic free rendition of American history: a virtual potpourri of vignettes and excursions down interesting side trails not usually covered in such great detail in similar sources. Many events are of first hand narrations of how familiar themes of purposeful U.S. trickery and diplomatic duplicity, out right lies, many un-kept promises, broken treaties, and genocide were used to "win the West."

However to the author's credit, with only a few exceptions (including the book's overall tone), his version of the U.S. story is told with the dispassion of a disinterested historian, not by "playing to" the patriotic heart strings of a "legend seeking public" (as say Lynne Chaney did in her "A Time for Freedom"). But nevertheless this rather skilful and detailed elaboration of American history comes at a distinct cost: other more interesting (and arguably more important) historical vignettes had to be excluded. In short, Nugent's side road excursions sucked up a lot of historical time and space. Either the book should have been longer, or the topics should have been more carefully prioritized. The most contentious (and in this reader's view also the least interesting), was the author's resurrection of a rather obscure Canadian historian's theory that U.S. military bases near the Canadian border are in fact a kind of pre-positioning for a future invasion of that nation. And speaking of delving into the obscure, I would have been pleased if he had explored more about the connection between slavery and U.S. expansionist designs.

Little is new about how American history can be divided into three continuous waves of imperialist expansion that began with the Treaty of Paris, continuing through the Louisiana Purchase, Manifest Destiny, the ejection of Mexicans from the Southwest, all the way up the time-scale until the continent was completely secured from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans. That theme has been "milked" repeatedly. However, what is new here is Nugent's view that the process of U.S. imperialist expansion continues in straight line into the present and obviously by logical extension would also include GW Bush Jr. administration's folly into Iraq.

While on its face, this is not an entirely implausible line of argument, especially if one is allowed to give undue weight to U.S. acquisitions such as Guam, the Philippines, and Samoa, as Nugent does. [What kind of "dumbed-down" imperialism does such acquisitions represent, any way?]

This, even more so than the expected future invasion of Canada, is altogether a tantalizing but implausible stretch, even to a clear eyed anti-Bush ex-Republican like myself. The author simply does not connect the dots between the last "wave of Western expansionism" to the present era in a convincing way. And here he had lots of material from which to draw: Dominican Republic, Grenada, Panama, Vietnam, etc. Yet, since none of these leaves much of a hegemonic footprint, let along rich acquisitions of land, his analysis does not ring true and leaves even me cold and asking questions about the sweeping character of the author's overarching but disconnected thesis?

Even so, it would not be unfair to say that Nugent's version of American history, which is so well documented especially in the first two phases, is definitely not Robert's Whul's version of "when the facts become legend, then go with the legend." In fact, it is more on the order of a suitable fix for that famous edict: "When the facts become legend, still go with the facts."

For sticking to the facts at least through the first two waves of expansionism, and not enlarging or embellishing on popular themes and legends (like groveling over the "last stand at the Alamo"), the book deserves serious consideration and five stars. But for failing to acknowledge that contemporary U.S. imperialism does not fit the same mode as say Manifest Destiny, or even the "global real politic" mode of contemporary international relations, minus one star.

Four Stars

Outstanding. Excellent and very informative. Great read. The downside is that you may not have the same view of this country after reading it. Pay particular attention to the Polk/George W. comparison. Our country has not been kind to non-whites and Catholics over the past 300+ years. What really surprised me was that a very high birthrate allowed us to conquer new territories.

Short and sweet. If you are wanting to read a book that glorifies American expansion as the heroic spread of democracy and the bringing of "civilization" to the barbarians...don't buy this book.
This is a very dry but informative look at the facts. No glorious tales of The Alamo defenders or American liberation of enslaved peoples here. The facts speak for themselves and this book is obsessed with documenting names, dates, numbers and quotes from many sources. It is also really nice that it has lots of maps that show not only the various geographical regions and the stages of US expansion but also the identity of the peoples from whom we took those regions. This is an excellent resource and reference book.

If you love American history, this is a great read on our country's history with foreign policy. Interesting facts you never learned in school. Even if you disagree with the author's premise of America being an empire, it is a fascinating read.

The author defines three Empires the first is the founding of the USA, the second is the expansion of continental USA from sea to shining sea and the third expantion overseas and influence on other countries the world over. All this done in the name of democracy and freedom of the world's people. It is well done and easily read.

Walter Nugent has rapidly become one of my favorite historians. In this book, he sets out to challenge Americans to come to terms with their nation's history in a way many would rather not. Many Americans say America is not, nor ever has been an empire, and that we are set apart by God to lead a virtuous life of preventing other nations from being empires. To Nugent this is absurd; America is not only an empire, but actually has had three different empires created in our 235 years of existence.

The first empire was territorial expansion pushed by the need to open more land to Amercan settlers. This is the traditional empire as manifested by the Treaty of Paris of 1783, the Louisiana Purchase, the Florida cessions, the Mexican War and the like. The second empire was territorial but with much limited settlement patterns. Alaska, Hawaii, Samoa, Guam, and the Phillipines are in this catagory. The final empire is our modern economic empire.

Each of these empires exhibits certain habits. We profess we are doing the native populations a favor by bringing them freedom and liberty, then we repress them as ethnic minorities in their homelands. We fight weaker powers as bullies to take land. The only time we failed in this endeavor was when we twice attempted to wrestle Canada from the Birish. We will negotiate when feasible and dclare war when necessary. Again, we profess to bring liberty and freedom to people who have no concept of what America-style freedom and liberties really are. Finally, if we resist the temptation to outfight annex, we support corupt authoritarian regimes who never even attempt to promote liberty and freedom.

Nugent explores every instance of American diplomatic history as it relates to empire building. Whether the reasons be economic, military, or political, Americans have rarely demonstrated the liberty and freedom we espouse once the land is in our possession or sphere of influence. We act unilaterally, we sell out allies, we are self-serving to our own ends. Such behavior is not ordained by God, but claiming God is on our side makes us feel better about ourselves when the dirty deed is complete.

Nugent makes no apologies for American behavior. He does not promote manifest destiny nor does he advocate further expansion. His point is that elected officials in congress and the Presidency often become pro-expansionist regarless of any previous personal philosophy or beliefs. This book should be read in schools inhigh school or college. We are who we are, and neither Nugent nor anyonce else can change that. Nugent's point is that Americans need to reconcile themselves to our history and get away from the notion that God favors us because of our accomplishments.

This book is very readable. In fact it is hard to put down. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone interested in how American came to be what it is today.

Because of this book I learned that "Remember the Alamo" was all about preserving slavery in Texas and not necessarily a valiant stand against an oppressive dictator. The information provided by the author is excellent and I learned a lot. However, he does analyze the past in terms of present day political correctness. There was a context for America's actions in the past that may be difficult to understand in the present. While Exceptionalism, open immigration policy, and Manifest Destiny are part of that context, America also invested heavily in transportation and communication infrastructure and had a vibrant, widely accessible, and strong free press that contributed to a strong sense of a nation. Other countries and territories that were in the path of America's expansion simply didn't have the means or the societal structure to stand up agains it.