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Overthrow Paperback – February 6, 2007

by Stephen Kinzer (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 1,057 ratings
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Stephen Kinzer's Overthrow provides a fast-paced narrative history of the coups, revolutions, and invasions by which the United States has toppled fourteen foreign governments -- not always to its own benefit

"Regime change" did not begin with the administration of George W. Bush, but has been an integral part of U.S. foreign policy for more than one hundred years. Starting with the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893 and continuing through the Spanish-American War and the Cold War and into our own time, the United States has not hesitated to overthrow governments that stood in the way of its political and economic goals. The invasion of Iraq in 2003 is the latest, though perhaps not the last, example of the dangers inherent in these operations.

In Overthrow, Stephen Kinzer tells the stories of the audacious politicians, spies, military commanders, and business executives who took it upon themselves to depose monarchs, presidents, and prime ministers. He also shows that the U.S. government has often pursued these operations without understanding the countries involved; as a result, many of them have had disastrous long-term consequences.

In a compelling and provocative history that takes readers to fourteen countries, including Cuba, Iran, South Vietnam, Chile, and Iraq, Kinzer surveys modern American history from a new and often surprising perspective.

"Detailed, passionate and convincing . . . [with] the pace and grip of a good thriller." -- Anatol Lieven, The New York Times Book Review

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  1. Print length
    414 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    February 6, 2007
  4. Dimensions
    5.45 x 0.7 x 8.2 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    9780805082401
  6. ISBN-13
    978-0805082401
  7. See all details
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4.6 out of 5 stars
1,057 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book easy to read and informative. They appreciate its well-researched and insightful analysis of the regime changes in the United States. The writing quality is praised as clear, accurate, and well-documented. Readers describe the introduction as concise and compelling, providing a great starting point for learning about the topic. Overall, they find the book engaging and hard to put down. However, opinions differ on whether the subject matter is thought-provoking or boring.

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ReadabilityInformation qualityWriting qualityIntroductionEase of readingPaceThought provoking
86 customers mention "Readability"86 positive0 negative

Customers find the book easy to read and engaging. They say it's an important and exciting read that doesn't overwhelm with dates and names. Readers also mention the book is timely and a must-read for anyone.

"Superb! Reviews histories of regime change, gives great perspective and insight, and provides succinct conclusion of these failed misadventures...." Read more

"...comments here except that Kinzer writes very well, making the read fascinating and factually solid. Other points:..." Read more

"The book is great overall. It reveals the truth about American Imperialism and the influence of big business in government...." Read more

"...History has already repeated itself. So, definitely worth the read." Read more

63 customers mention "Information quality"59 positive4 negative

Customers find the book informative and well-researched. It provides a nice overview of events and insightful analysis of regime changes in the United States. They appreciate the great perspective and insights it offers, as well as the factual information they never knew. The book demonstrates the importance of understanding history and mistakes, and sheds light on the motives of some politicians and businesses.

"Superb! Reviews histories of regime change, gives great perspective and insight, and provides succinct conclusion of these failed misadventures...." Read more

"...This book is important information Americans need to understand, in order to grasp the foreign policy deceptions that have been foisted on us by our..." Read more

"...Overthrow" was not only painstakingly researched, but also written in the tone of historical fiction - although it is historical fact...." Read more

"...guerillas.In summation, a very sound overview of US foreign policy, colonialist and Imperialist...." Read more

55 customers mention "Writing quality"49 positive6 negative

Customers find the book well-written and engaging. They appreciate the clear, accurate information and storytelling. The book is a logically presented overview of U.S. interventions and leaders. Readers describe the author as a great journalist and writer who provides an excellent recounting of the extensive history of U.S. interference.

"...of regime change, gives great perspective and insight, and provides succinct conclusion of these failed misadventures. Strongly recommend it!" Read more

"I will not repeat the many excellent comments here except that Kinzer writes very well, making the read fascinating and factually solid...." Read more

"...Kinzer is a great story teller, inviting his reader to pull up a chair and watch the drama and intrigue unfold at close range - all the better to be..." Read more

"Great book, nicely written." Read more

7 customers mention "Introduction"7 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's introduction concise and informative. It provides a good starting point for learning about US history of regime crimes, with succinct details and brief chapters that provide only the most basic details of each incident.

"...As it is, it’s an excellent starting point in the American intervention conversation; one can now choose which country’s details to delve into,..." Read more

"...Each chapter is fairly brief, giving only the most basic details of each incident and in many cases, the outcomes...." Read more

"A great starting point to get a glimpse into the evolution of US Foreign Policy from isolationism in the late 19th century to imperialism and..." Read more

"A very educational book, very pithy introduction to the US history of regime changes and the possible alternative geopolitical outcome...." Read more

4 customers mention "Ease of reading"4 positive0 negative

Customers find the book easy to read and engaging. They say it's hard to put down.

"...Yet, "O" well-written and well-researched. It is easy and fast reading with a boredom quotient of near zero...." Read more

"...The book is a fairly easy and enjoyable read without too many controversial claims or hints of conspiracy thinking...." Read more

"...However, it is so well written and enjoyable to read that it is very hard to put down...." Read more

"...An easy, unsettling read." Read more

4 customers mention "Pace"4 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's pacing engaging and smooth. They say it progresses in an interesting manner.

"...Highly recommended both for its brisk pace and its broad and balanced view of the U.S.'s mostly short-sighted and most disastrous career of regime..." Read more

"...political/historical novels, this book is easily read and progresses in a smooth manner...." Read more

"...Not surprisingly he's a terrific writer - never boring, great pacing, always interesting.I strongly recommend Overthrow by Kinzer." Read more

"The book moves quickly through all of the countries overthrown by the U.S There are a lot of interesting stories and facts...." Read more

8 customers mention "Thought provoking"4 positive4 negative

Customers have different views on the book. Some find it informative and disturbing, while others find it boring and repetitive. The subject matter is depressing for some readers.

"Very interesting and disturbing book on America’s interventions and toppling of other governments...." Read more

"...together from other books he has written and thus gets a little repetitive at times." Read more

"Very well written and thought provoking. Sad legacy of good intentions gone awry...." Read more

"The subject matter is very depressing so I didn't want to say that I love it, but it is certainly contains information that we should all know about." Read more

Missing pages
5 out of 5 stars
Missing pages
Substantively, this is a great book, very insightful and superbly written. However, my copy is missing pages 296 to 303.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic overview of American misadventures
    Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Superb! Reviews histories of regime change, gives great perspective and insight, and provides succinct conclusion of these failed misadventures. Strongly recommend it!
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  • Virginia C. Cotts
    5.0 out of 5 stars Paring history down to the essential lessons.
    Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2006
    Verified Purchase
    I will not repeat the many excellent comments here except that Kinzer writes very well, making the read fascinating and factually solid. Other points:

    I think Kinzer made it fairly clear that the deposed leaders were not necessarily great or without flaws. The point is that when we went into these countries and replaced their democratically elected leaders with our puppet leaders, most of them turned out to be difficult to overthrow despots and tyrants. This left the fledgling democracies no chance to learn whether that elected official was good or bad, and gain more experience and time to develop their political parties and election processes. Instead, it repeatedly developed an environment where the only groups that could overthrow those puppets were fanatics and zealots, who grew out of the resentment of the American interference and the suffering of the country under quasi American rule. Besides, who are we to point fingers at the less than perfect elected leaders of other countries?

    The economic aspects of the overthrows were clearly an essential part of the pattern. However Kinzer stresses that the politicians had their own geo-political reasons for stepping in - often using the nationalization of companies as an excuse to hide their motives. The nationalization process is often misunderstood and Kinzer did a very good job of pointing out this rarely had much to do with anything but mild socialism. Instead, it was a response to the centuries of imperialism that allowed developed countries to take over so much of the underdeveloped world - almost exclusively those that had valuable resources to develop. During that phase, many companies became international power houses by developing those resources and selling them - with minimal compensation to the country whose economic futures were being plundered. Iran in '53 was looking at the incredible profits of the companies who developed the oil industries, yet hardly met their agreed payments to the country for being allowed to get rich off the resources they were given access to.

    This is still happening with globalization. Multinational corporations go into small countries with some agreement to have access to the resources, including cheap labor, and few restrictions on how they treat the employees, environment or invest some of the profit money in the country to help it gain it's own economic footing. It has been mentioned that countries operate on their own self-interest. They have reason to operate on enlightened self interest and do so far more than the corporations. Many figured this out and have formed coalitions to fight it.

    This book is important information Americans need to understand, in order to grasp the foreign policy deceptions that have been foisted on us by our government and the high profit media. James Pfiffner, professor of poli-sci at George Mason Univ, addressed presidential lying in a `99 essay (Presidential Studies Quarterly). He identified a hierarchy of presidential lying, some of which he considers justifiable:

    -Lying about personal matters that do not affect national policy or security. [Duh?]
    -Lying to foreign governments can be a necessary element of diplomacy.
    -Lying about matters of national security (Eisenhower denying U-2 flights over USSR)

    National security is where Pfiffner finds the worst errors because they are "lies of policy deception". The president says he is doing one thing, while in fact, the military, CIA, NSA or other agencies are doing something else. This is where he nails the issue for me:

    These lies are inexcusable because they deceive "the public about the direction of government policy" and deny voters the opportunity "to make an informed choice [which] undermines the premise of the democratic process". His examples are Johnson's escalation of the VN war and the Gulf of Tonkin deceptions. Nixon's secret bombing of Cambodia (14 months), and Reagan's lies about Iran/Contra.

    We need to develop the awareness in American voters about what has been done in our names, with our tax money; while being deceived about the real reasons - or even that we were doing it covertly- so we could not vote or contact our representatives. A variation of taxation without representation, let alone ignoring the grassroots American conviction that we don't support interfering with other countries governments.

    Kinzer's book is an excellent text for this enlightenment. I also consider it essential for dissemination on a much wider scale.
    12 people found this helpful
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  • Seth McAvoy
    4.0 out of 5 stars Overall great, but politicaly biased
    Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2012
    Verified Purchase
    The book is great overall. It reveals the truth about American Imperialism and the influence of big business in government. However Kinzer constantly infects his otherwise great book with his strong liberal Democrat bias. Without fail, the victims of American Imperialism and the people who fought against the U.S. imposed tyrannies are described as "liberal," or "leftist" regardless of where they actualy landed on the political spectrum (Mossadegh being a great example, Kinzer describes him as liberal, despite him actualy being more center conservative). Without fail the American imperialists are "right leaning," "conservative," and Republican. Yet Democratic American presidents are "anti-imperialists," in Kinzer's eyes, Democrats can do no wrong. He is extremely eager to find quotes by liberal politicians denouncing the overthrow and by conservative politicians embracing it. In his eyes, Democrats can do no wrong. He describes Grover Cleveland and Harry Truman as "anti-imperialist" and non-aggresive, despite Cleveland's horrible crimes against Native Americans and embrace of Manifest Destiny and Truman's use of the atomic bomb on a nation that was no longer a threat to the United States and following occupation of Japan. Missing from the book are the 1949 coup in Syria, wich was backed by the CIA, however, Truman, a Democrat was president at the time, and in Kinzer's eyes, Truman is guiltless. No where to be seen is the 1963 revolution in Iraq, also backed by the CIA, wich put Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party in power, but Kennedy was the American president at the time, so this overthrow goes unmentioned. Also unmentioned are the attacks and support of ethnic cleansing by Croat, Bosniak, and KLA extremists in Yugoslavia, leading to the creation of two new countries and an ongoing genocide in the Kosovo region of Serbia against all ethnic minorities by the de facto KLA government. What a perfect addition the overthrow in Kosovo would have been, it involved conspiracies, cover ups, and a non-existant massacre as an excuse to go to war. But no matter how great it would have gone with the rest of the book, Democrat Clinton can do no wrong. We will likely never see an expansion to this book about the overthrow of Gadaffi in Libya as it was ordered by a Democrat. I would still recomend this book though, the political bias, though irritating, does not get in the way of the facts.
    17 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Ahmed Khandid
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good
    Reviewed in Canada on July 21, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    Good
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  • Rosendo J. Escalante-Ilizaliturri
    5.0 out of 5 stars Imparcial
    Reviewed in Mexico on June 14, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    He iniciado su lectura, y hasta este momento lo encuentro imparcial
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  • Gary Hambleton
    5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning, shocking expose of America's dark side
    Reviewed in Spain on September 1, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    Kinzer has probed the many instances of US/CIA/Military involvements in overthrowing democratically elected leaders around the world because they didn't like their politics or their desire to own their own natural resources.
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  • Alexandre Filordi de Carvalho
    5.0 out of 5 stars Para ver os EUA com outros olhos: os que vêm!
    Reviewed in Brazil on July 15, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Uma série de casos acerca da dominação político-econômica estadunidense em todo mundo, fartamente documentado. Do Ocidente ao Oriente, a investida desta dominação apenas visa à consolidação do poderio hegemônico dos EUA, sem piedade mas municiado com muito cinismo, muita chantagem e grande dose de lawfare. No caso do Brasil, também mencionado no livro, é assustadora a sua presente atualização.
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  • Alejandro
    5.0 out of 5 stars Very well written book on regime change
    Reviewed in India on November 26, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Amazing book on American collective psyche that has enabled regime change in vast parts of the world. The author is well versed in describing invasions and coup d'etats in an engaging an interesting manner. This should be required reading for any aspiring diplomat, as it showcases very eloquently the downsides of regime change and how it has actually hurt American security instead of enabling it.

    If you have any interest in American foreign policy over the last hundred years do yourself a favor and get this, you will have a better way of interpreting American diplomacy and have a deeper grasp on modern conflicts around the world, especially the middle east and Latin America.
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