HOW to HIDE an EMPIRE: A HISTORY of the GREATER UNITED STATES (audiobook) by Daniel Immerwahr

 

Published in 2019 by Recorded Books.
Read by Luis Moreno.
Duration: 17 hours, 25 minutes.
Unabridged.

If I asked you to think of a map of the United States you would almost certainly imagine the contiguous 48 states and maybe imagine the little inset maps of Alaska and Hawaii. 

But, you probably would not imagine other areas like American Samoa being a part of that map. How about Guam or the U.S. Virgin Islands even though the people who live there are American citizens? How about Puerto Rico? Puerto Ricans are citizens and Puerto Rico has a population bigger than at least 15 states.

This book is about how America has maintained an empire of sorts from the very beginning. At first, it was by continually moving out of the official states into Indian territory, Mexico, Spanish territory and English territory. The United States took several strategic "guano" islands that were not claimed by anyone in the late 1800s. The United States has held a traditional empire since the Spanish-American War in 1898 when it took the Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico and Cuba. It went on the acquire other properties by trading and conquering during the World Wars (the World War II section of this book is excellent).

Nowadays, the United States maintains a hybrid empire. It has kept some territories and turned others into states (Hawaii and Alaska) but it has also tried something new. 

The United States seems to have learned a lesson with its experience in the Philippines. The United States spent a lot of time, treasure and blood pacifying the Philippines only to have it become a liability during World War II - the Japanese attacked it within hours of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The U.S. quickly granted the Philippines its independence and changed its "business model".

Rather than conquer and hold other countries, the United States has maintained an immense series of bases and installations across the world. The most famous is probably Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, but others include Ramstein Air Base in Germany with 53,000 people.

On the other end of the spectrum there are also tiny little properties that house radio listening stations or broadcasting stations.   According to this article by the Libertarian think tank the Cato Institute, the United States has about 750 foreign military installations around the world, more than "America also has three times as many installations as all other countries combined." (note the article is an opinion piece and the Cato Institute is generally of the opinion that the U.S. military should pull back. They always write with a political point in mind, but I don't usually find the Cato Institute to be untruthful).

This was an interesting look at American history. Some of it is shameful - such as the medical experimentation that has done on unsuspecting Puerto Ricans. Some of it is amazing - such as the immense supply chain that the U.S. used to supply Chinese forces and help keep the Japanese bogged down in China throughout the war. The supply line flew through 4 continents, over two oceans, the world's largest desert and over the world's tallest mountain range. It supplied the model for the base system the United States uses now. 

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: HOW to HIDE an EMPIRE: A HISTORY of the GREATER UNITED STATES (audiobook) by Daniel Immerwahr.