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What Is America?: A Short History of the New World Order

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Up to the minute refined excellence bounces the historical ball off the same old wall.
Glimpse into this must read compendium of timely thought with the following excerpts;

Page 38; For all its corruption, chaos and sclerosis, the Spanish Empire still holds the record as the longest-lived world-super power-exactly three hundred years from conquest of Mexico to Mexican independence.
Page 81; Nowadays, when individuals think that God is speaking to them, that they have been chosen for a greater purpose, that they are unquestionably right while everyone else is mistaken or evil, they are likely to be removed from society and treated for mental illness.
Page 82; At what point does one group's religious mission become a threat to other groups? It seems to me that the acid test for determining when a religious community had become a peril to itself and others is when it starts killing people on God's orders.
Page 82; The atrocities of medieval popes and kings had been committed under an overreaching theology formidable enough to persuade most people that Christ allowed his delegates on Earth to practice war, torture and ingeniously painful executions on His behalf. Protestants knew that was bunk, but were soon doing much the same themselves.
Page 107; America's wealth and freedom would build on the slaughter of one race and the enslavement of another.
Page 170; In the thirty years after 1870, white Americans took and settled more land than they had in the previous three hundred.
Page 191; The history of the United States is not a story of triumphant anti-imperial heretics. It is an account of the power of empire as a way of life, as a way of avoiding the fundamental challenge of creating a humane and equitable community or culture.
William Appleman Williams, 1980
Page 194; "Our country is now geared to an arms economy which was bred in an artificially induced psychosis of war hysteria and nurtured upon an incessant propaganda of fear."
Page 207, 208; The supposed "rights" of capital trump those of sovereignty, ecology, labour-and future generations. The economy has become tyranny. Unless trade agreements include tough environmental and labour standards (as they do to some extant within the European Union), capital will always seek out the dirtiest river and the most exploitable human being.
The quest for easy money is as old as money itself. But it is hardly surprising that the delusion of endless growth and the denial of natural limits have taken their most virulent form in the United States-in the culture forged on the frontier. "The very essence of the frontier experience," writes the naturalist Tim Flannery, "is to exploit [resources] as quickly as possible, then move on.
The world is less a home in which to live than a treasury to ransack, and the loot needn't be shared out fairly or even used wisely, because there will always be more somewhere else.

The first 75% of the book is a good description of the founding of the New World, it's affect on Europe and the poor treatment of native Americans. Unquestionably there is an American myth of how the Country was carved out of wilderness. Setting the record straight is a useful exercise. Where the historical aspect of the book essentially comes apart, is in the final 25%; which is primarily devoted to bashing the right wing policies of Nixon, Regan, and the two Bushes. Although I essentially agree with the author's position, I think this recent history could have been better balanced and written in a less confrontational manner. Finally, his description of the rightwing element of American politics as "Backwoods America" as contrasted with "Enlightenment America", is a gross oversimplification and indicates a lack of a clear understanding of political contrasts in America today.

This is a devastating, crushing, sour, undeniable and sarcastic criticism of human race using example of conquest, colonization, wars and genocides that happened in South and North Americas.
I gobbled it down in two sessions. Truly embarrassing and depressing. Shame on you, long time gone Britons and Spaniards particularly, though author emphasizes that any nation, tribe or society is capable and willing to behave the same way when given a chance. Highly recommended - read it first, then go for "The Shock Doctrine" by Noami Klein and "Collapse" by Jared Diamond.

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"The Columbian Age [the Age that occurred after Christopher Columbus discovered America] was built on colonial attitudes: on taming the wilderness, civilizing the savage, and the American dream of endless plenty. Now there is nothing left to colonize...Mankind will either share [this planet] or fight over it--a war nobody can win...[The United States of] America...must now examine its own record--the facts, not the myths--and free itself from the potent but potentially fatal mix of forces that created its nation, its empire, and the modern world."

The above is the very last paragraph of this eye-opening and riveting book by award-winning novelist, historian, author, and essayist Ronald Wright.

This book's primary purpose is to understand the rise of the United States from small colony to world's lone superpower in the span of only two centuries. By delving deep into history, Wright is indeed able to, as the above quotation states, separate fact from myth.

Interpretive history is also included. That is, the author is able to draw parallels from events of the past and apply them to today's events. The result is a coherent and insightful historical analysis of the United States, an analysis that some people may find difficult to read.

What I especially enjoyed about this book is that it contains the actual writings of those from the past. Some of these writings may be distressing to some readers.

Each chapter begins with a few profound quotations from others. My favourite:

"The real war has been to keep alive the light of civilization everywhere...The end of the world begins not with the barbarians of the gate, but with the barbarians at the highest levels of state."
(Acclaimed Nigerian poet and novelist, Ben Okri, 2003)

Finally, it should be mentioned what this book is not:

(1) It is not a rant. A rant is written work based on emotion (usually anger) and opinion. This book is based on history. It contains almost 125 pages of notes and bibliography.

(2) It is not Anti-American. By examining history and human behaviour, the author derives his insight.

In conclusion, this book is a must for those who want to understand the United States and our times.

(first published 2008; forward; 9 chapters; main narrative 225 pages; notes; bibliography; acknowledgements; index; about the author)

<<Stephen Pletko, London, Ontario, Canada>>

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Excellent view of us from an outsider (Canadian). Not just the recent history, but all the way back to the Spanish conquest of Incas, Aztecs, etc. and its effect on us today. Also great review of our treatment of the Indians from the Puritan times forward.

I visit America annually and have spent time living in the country. It is a fascinating place. It encapsulates all that is the best and the worst of the world rolled together. Too often, its ugly side is brought to the attention of the world and it is condemned without thoughting given to its better side. By the same token, too many Americans dismiss its negative features while only focussing on its positive features. The truth to the conundrum lies somewhere in the middle.


Ronald Wright has written a book that will probably infuriate many of America's true blue boosters. This is a good thing. There is nothing wrong with criticism or some introspection. Wright's book is an excellent summation of modern America. But, like the country itself, the book also has its own weaknesses. Wright too often criticises a history for which the modern nation cannot be held responsible. Yes, America's history has a very dark side. The near eradication of the indian population, slavery, religious intolerance and more. People today cannot be held responsible here. However, as with all peoples, they can be held responsible for how they manage the implications of this history going forward. It is here that Wright is on more fertile ground.

The part of the book that I found the most fascinating was his analysis of terrorism is America's history. In discussing the assassination of President McKinley by a home grown anarchist, he goes on to say:
"In 1920, a truck bomb blew up on Wall Street outside the headquarters of J.P. Morgan. Now we are being told that terrorism is new, that nineteen fanatics have changed the world, that such people are so powerful and persuasive that the `war' against them must trump democratic freedoms that survived two World Wars and the threat of nuclear annihilation."
How eloquent. This puts our fears into some sort of perspective. If only George W Bush could have been persuaded similarly. Read this book!

Overall this is an excellent book, though I would have to agree that authors liberal bias does show in certain parts through unnecessary emotional coloring and harms the otherwise great work.
That being said, the author supports his opinions with facts and this is the only part of the book that can be said to be lacking.
For me it was most fascinating to read about the pre-wild-west America, the way of life the civilized Native American tribes led up until they were chased away or died out from illness. Anyone wanting more in the way of knowledge of the American history than what can be found in Westerns should read this work.

This book is very significant for a number of reasons. It sheds light on the controversial view of the US with presenting the history of US from a different angle. The writer does not want to glorify the US and does not try to explain its mistakes with listing large number of reasons. Simply, with giving details of historical facts hardly mentioned in history books, he manages to explain (very convincingly) lots of controversies. With opening the readers' eyes, Wright puts a lot of things in their right place. Mixing honorable democratic values with supporting oppressive regimes, hard working people versus mega-rich Wall street characters and the role of the Bible-belt - all covered in details and with great insight without falling into cliches. One thing is sure, it changed my view about the US.
Joseph Feredoes, AustraliaWhat Is America?: A Short History of the New World Order

It is time that we all get past the confines of patriotism and ask ourselves what we really are and how we really got there. Ronald Wright, albeit a Canadian, has performed a critically important service in looking at our history without blinders and clears away much of the self-aggrandizing fog that surrounds the manner in which America came to its present condition - through the extermination of much of the native population, the enslavement of Africans and the belief in empire rather than true democracy. Unless we can face up to this, we are likely to continue to undertake dangerous adventures of the sort that have led us to places like Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, overreaching our presumed ability to remake the world in our self-proclaimed image and betraying our deeper aspirations again. Unfortunately, too few will be able to learn this lesson without taking offense where none is intended. Changing one's standards of behavior has never been easy - and human progress seems to take a terrible toll of its victims - both individually and collectively as we struggle with issues like equality.

Ronald Wright's A SHORT HISTORY OF PROGRESS and his devastating STOLEN CONTINENTS are books that every thoughtful person should read. In many ways WHAT IS AMERICA? is a rehash of the other two. The new material does not reach the high standard of his previous writings. You will learn more about "what America is" in Joe Bageant's DEER HUNTING WITH JESUS.