Exploring the Hidden History of the United States: Uncovering the Story of the Greater United States in 'How to Hide an Empire'

DAS: I knew a little about the history of U.S. territories but learned much more from this very readable book. Immerwahr provided relevant background for events and people.

United States on Jan 19, 2024

Karrie: Read this and you will gain more of an education on how the USA got started more than any other book or movies will tell you… it’s nothing short of brilliant
Marks out of 10, I’ll award it a 12

United States on Jan 17, 2024

Jonathan McGuire: An excellent overview of four questions pertinent to anyone who wants to engage meaningfully in foreign policy, voting, economic planning, education of children, etc. Really, the sky is the limit on the areas of life impacted by the questions of: what is empire? What does it matter? Is the US an empire and, if so, a good one?

The author seems to have a thinly veiled bent towards a public apology for America and evidence, while truthful, does tend towards this in a selective manner. Much can be said, but wasn’t, that would make an American empire a net positive even for the territories, but I don’t fault the author for having a short and provocative popular level book rather than a much longer intermediate to advanced level book presenting all sides.

It’s a helpful brick in a conversational house that shouldn’t end its construction here. Highly recommend.

United States on Nov 04, 2023

Arthur G. Yarish: This is an important book because it presents interesting information that is not commonly known among Usamericans who live the myths of Usamerican "Exceptionalism"

Mexico on Feb 03, 2023

Glen G Stone: The five star reviews are here for a reason! One of the most interesting books I have ever read, deserving of all of the accolades. If you're a fan of Winchester, Larson, Bryson, etc., you have just found your next great read. Detailed yet entertaining, breathtaking in scope, disturbingly honest, and endlessly fascinating.

Canada on Oct 26, 2021

Milan: Engrossing read.

Japan on Jun 20, 2021

Roger Cooper: As a Canadian I am more aware of the overt imperialism of the British Empire, and the racism in past and present day Canada.
Daniel Immerwahr examines an often overlooked facet of American History. He takes you into an insightful look at American imperialism and colonialism. This is a look at what territories really make up the Untied States of America. The ones that are not usually thought of as being the US; the rest of the Greater U.S.of A. Corporate imperialism is detailed along with the political story, with emphasis on the undemocratic treatment of US territories and their people. It details the overt racism in early twentieth century US society and politics in general, and specifically concerning territories with large indigenous and non-white populations. This is much worse than I had thought. Especially of interest may be the chapters concerning the involvement of the territories in WWI & WWII, and of course the chapter on how bird guano sparked the acquisition of overseas territory.
Well written, researched and a good read

Canada on Aug 24, 2020

pumpkinwoman: Professor Daniel Immerwahr has written a book that seeks to address Americans’ critical lack of knowledge of the country’s overseas territories and military installations, a lack is not surprising since many college students seem severely lacking in knowledge of their own home states, much less distant places. Immerwahr has said that the problem is not geographical, but if a study he cites that indicates that the people who are under thirty are less likely than older respondents to know that Puerto Ricans are American citizens is truly representative, the decline of map reading skills may well be associated with the rise of GPS devices and smart phones, coupled with the tendency to see distances in term of the time it takes to get somewhere rather than miles, may be a strong contributor to the problem. (Immerwahr does not seem to fault teachers and his fellow professors who are including decreasing amounts of content relating to the United States’ own colonial roots in their courses without replacing it with information about the territories, let alone military bases abroad.)
Immerwahr recounts the United States’ acquisition of territories and military bases largely...

United States on Sep 15, 2019

Dr Eckart Reihlen: A very good book. Another way of looking at the evolution of the USA, a lot of it unknown to most. By taking the reader to the moon (an American conquest) and to the current era of brawl politics (we have consensus, Barack Obama was born in Hawaii), the author puts history in the context of contemporary sociology - there is no better purpose for a history book.

Germany on Jul 29, 2019

Jose I. Fuste: I'm a professor at the University of California San Diego and I'm assigning this for a graduate class. No other book out there has the level of breadth on the history of US imperialism that this work provides. Even though it packs 400 pages of text (which might seem like a turnoff for non-academic readers), "How to Hide an Empire" is highly readable given Immerwhar's skills as a writer. Also, its length is part of what makes it awesome because it gives it the right amount of detail and scope.

I could not disagree more with the person who gave this book one star. Take it from me: I've taught hundreds of college students who graduate among the best in their high school classes and they know close to nothing about the history of US settler colonialism, overseas imperialism, or US interventionism around the world. If you give University of California college students a quiz on where the US' overseas territories are, most who take it will fail (trust me, I've done it). And this is not their fault. Instead, it's a product of the US education system that fails to give students a nuanced and geographically comprehensive understanding of the oversized effect that their country has...

United States on Feb 25, 2019