Book Description
In 1898 US public opinion turned against the Spanish for their repression of Cuba. Relations between the two governments soured and ultimately resulted in the mysterious blowing up of the USS Maine in Havana harbor, which triggered a short but demanding war.
A US expeditionary force was sent to Cuba, where the troops encountered both difficult climate and terrain, and a fierce Spanish garrison which, despite being greatly outnumbered, fought hard before surrendering.
Many famous US personalities were involved, including future President Theodore Roosevelt, future general John Pershing, and journalists William Randolph Hearst and Stephen Crane.
The war against the Spanish may have been brief but as Henry Cabot Lodge declared: "Its results were startling, and of world-wide meaning." Victory made the US a nation with global interests.
As an extension of the war, US troops also captured the island of Puerto Rico. The US Navy bombarded Manila in the Philippines, and landed its troops. The Spanish garrison quickly surrendered, but a local anti-Spanish insurgent force under Emilio Aguinaldo resisted US occupation. The conflict continued until 1902, more than 100,000 US troops were eventually committed, and the campaign saw difficult jungle fighting, with indigenous Moro tribesmen fiercely resisting US forces.
Providing a detailed examination of the experiences and equipment of the opposing sides, and featuring rare and previously unpublished photographs, this book highlights this crucial yet oft-forgotten war that changed the future of American foreign policy during "the age of American imperialism."
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Osprey book - ignore review below.......2007-05-25
How many more idiotic reviews of Osprey titles are we to put up with along the line of the previous one? Osprey Men-at-Arms series books are designed to show the UNIFORMS, and to a lesser extent equipment, of those involved in various conflicts. They are NOT supposed to provide, in the limited number of pages they contain, a detailed factual analyses of military conflicts and campaigns. It seems some reviewers fail to grasp this simple concept.
This book does a fine job of showing the uniforms of the various combatants, although there could have been an extra plate detailing Philippino forces, and one less of the US troops. Stephen Walsh's illustrations are, as usual, excellent - his earlier title on the Mexican Revolution is one of the best Osprey titles in years. Both that book, and this one, are highly recommended.
Save your Money.......2007-04-16
Not up to the usual standards of Osprey. Its a pity because this time period when America went out to build a real Empire is worthy of a better effort.
Book Description
Part I of this text investigates issues such as McKinley's foreign policy, the Spanish-American War, economic factors, and the drive for influence in China and the Caribbean. Part II considers the anti-imperialist effort and its ultimate failure. Part III explores the impact of U.S. policy on other nations and peoples.
Average customer rating:
- Well done volume on one of America's little wars.
- Definitive Study for its Period
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SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR 1898 (Brassey's History of Uniforms)
Ron Field
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The Spanish-American War: The Story and Photographs
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American Web Equipment: 1910-1967 (Europa Militaria)
ASIN: 1857532724 |
Book Description
An authority on the US Army of the 19th century transports readers back to this first war fought by the US as a global superpower and the subsequent campaign in the Phillippines, a guerilla war precursor of Vietnam. This book is a thorough analysis of the US Army and the Spanish and Filipino forces, with chapters detailing the range of theiruniforms, weapons and equipment, from the US Marines and US Cavalry to the exoyic appearance of the Spanish guerillas and Filipino Bolomen. Lavishly illustrated in bandw and color.
Customer Reviews:
Well done volume on one of America's little wars........2007-07-28
I've always been interested in the Spanish American War. It was the war that changed the course for this country from a small backwoods republic to a colonizing super power on the world stage. In one feel swoop the U.S. acquired Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Hawaii, Wake Island and Guam. We made up for a late start in the game of colonialism by expanding the empire to encompass two oceans solidifing a strong presence and eventual control over both. Brassey's book, though hard to find, is well worth the effort. It covers the history sufficiently with informative text on the uniforms, equipment and weapons used by the major combatants. There is a fine concentration of period photographs, a few line drawings and contemporary color photographs of uniforms and equipment from museums and collectors. Also the beautiful and imaginative full color illustrations capture troops in the heat of battle or in relaxed off duty poses. Well worth the wait this, is a book that any '98 fan would be happy to own.
Definitive Study for its Period.......1999-07-20
This book covers more than just uniforms, it covers all the items carried or worn by the individual soldiers in this disease-ridden war. Congratulations to the author and the illustrator. This is a valuable compendium, of a size larger than octavo so that the plates are clear, and well constructed. I have been researching the U.S. arms, uniforms, and accoutrements of this period for some forty years now. It takes much more than a slew of pictures and a few gee whizzy captions to impress me. This work does--not only does it cover the details of the uniforms, it also covers the accoutrements and arms of the contending soldiers of both nations. I can vouch for the accuracy of the U.S. portion of the book. The detail shown herein on the Spanish forces, as far as I know, has not been readily available in English at all. Though I have not pursued detailed research on Spanish arms, clothing, and accoutrements, I have kept my eyes out for published materials, and I have not seen it. As much of the non-metallic materiel of this period was subject to hard usage in the field, and because the U.S. soldiers' clothing and equipments were burned for sanitary purposes upon the troops' return home, the cloth and leather of this period that actually saw service in campaign is extremely rare. What is now available is mostly web belts sold off as surplus and firearms and edged weapons the same.
Customer Reviews:
An American Treasure - both the man and the works.......2005-03-05
Reading this magnificent volume was a joy on many levels. First and foremost, Theodore Roosevelt could write. His prose is always strong, active, and colorful. In "The Rough Riders" he handles action better than most novelists. He picks just the right details about the situation to make it come alive. Whether it is talking about the sound of the bullets buzzing by and the value of smokeless powder because of the difficulty of spotting those using it against you or the plague of sand crabs picking at the dead the reader feels as if he were there.
I also found real pleasure in reading about a time in American history that I did not know that much about. Theodore Roosevelt was a young boy during the Civil War (and he had family on both sides of the conflict) and died in 1919 just after The Great War (WWI). "An Autobiography" was written in 1913 after his failed third party run for the presidency. It is a magnificent work because it is not a chronology of his life. Instead he tells the story of his life through some events that allow him to illuminate at length on various aspects of his philosophy of life. He talks about morals, civil service reform, his views on productivity and the working man versus the big corporations negotiating the end of the Russo-Japanese War and a lot more. At all times he shows how he has considered all sides of an issue and how he came to his decision.
One of the problems in reading history is that a false light is cast backward onto events in the past. The cataclysm of the two world wars and all the history of the following them have made understanding the time of T. Roosevelt, as they understood it, all but impossible. However, both of these books are completely uninformed by The Great War, the creation of the Soviet Union or anything later because both books were written prior to those events. We get a great feel for how that world looked to those who inhabited it, the vividness of the Civil War and how the policies of Lincoln were still well known and were debated as living choices and policies.
He also shares with us his views on why he had to be such an active politician and especially as President. There is no doubt that the world was changing mightily in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The rise of the huge corporations and the industrialization of huge numbers of peoples as workers in those industries created many issues that had to be worked out. The old government structures were overwhelmed and TR was one of the leaders who helped fashion policies that he and others considered fair and progressive. Obviously, from our vantage point, we would have made different choices. But the present is always in flux and always seem simpler in hindsight than it ever was.
Another treat is the way he characterizes the positions of those with whom he disagreed. He always tries to be charitable and often sounds like a kindly parent dealing with a sincere but wayward and somewhat dull child. It is also fascinating to read this progressive's views about moral character. He specifically addresses the evils of sexual licentiousness, abortion, divorce, and much more that has become our norm. It should give us pause.
If you have any doubt about his character or courage, compare this example to anyone today you care to name. Theodore Roosevelt was an Assistant Secretary to the Navy. He saw the Spanish-American War coming and resigns his post to help raise a regiment of volunteer cavalry. He is offered the role of commanding officer, but leaves that to his friend, Leonard Wood, and is happy as Lt. Colonel. He is well liked by his men, never shirks from the hardships and leads his men in battle from the front. He wanted to be in the thick of things not for vainglory, but because it was the best place to communicate with and ensure the best use and protection of his men. Whom do you know like that today?
As a side note it is interesting to read the differences in his orthography from our present day usage. I don't know if the umlauts in double consonants in words such as reelection (reëlection), cooperation (coöperation), or reenter (reënter) were peculiar to him or some school, but I actually like it a lot and wish we would bring it back. It looks better and makes reading all that much simpler. Maybe typewriters did away with them because they lacked the keys to make them. However, our computers can make those characters easily.
If you are interested in American History, the two books in this volume are treasures you owe it to yourself to read. Oh that anyone in public life could write like this with the kind of inner strength and courage Theodore Roosevelt had. We would be the better for it regardless of our policy differences.
Also, this edition from the Library of America deserves special praise. There are many high quality black and white photographs that were used in the original editions that enrich the reading experience a great deal. As always the LOA has made a high quality book that is a delight to hold and read. Thank you, LOA!
Strongest Recommendation!
What a War, What a Life!.......2004-11-24
In rankings of the American Presidents, the consensus pick as the first great president of the twentiety century was also the youngest man ever to serve in the office: Theodore Roosevelt. Reformer, rancher, conservationist, hunter, historian, police commissioner, and soldier, Theodore roosevelt led a rich and varied life that he vividly recorded in autobiographical writings, letters, and speeches.
This book contains two books, both written by Roosevelt and edited by Roosevelt biographer Louis Auchincloss:
The Rough Riders (1899) is the story of the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry. This was the unit raised by Roosevelt, trained in Texas and then shipped to Cuba. This was a time when war could still be seen as a romantic adventure -- unlike what happened in France twenty years later. The biggest problems faced by Roosevelt were: the jungle, the heat, hunger, rain, mud and malaria. Kind of incidentally they also had a war to fight.
An Autobiography (1913) recalls his lifelong fascination with natural history, his love of hunting and the outdoors, and his adventures as a cattleman in the Dakota Badlands, as well as his career in politics as a state legislator, civil service reformer, New York City police commissioner, assistant secretary of the navy, governor of New York, and president. What a life.
Customer Reviews:
AN ENJOYABLE READ.......2004-09-27
I liked this one. This is the first Douglas Jones novel I've tried and I must say it was good. I am not all that into historical novel, but this one was different. The author used an interesting technique and it certainly worked. Recommend this one for a fun read anytime.
More history and less western atmosphere than usual........1998-06-05
This book was certainly a change from most of the other Douglas C. Jones novels I've had the pleasure of reading. The author pays much less attention here to continuing his moving fictional history of Arkansas and the West than he does to revealing the sometimes farcical details of America's 1898 attack on Spanish-controlled Cuba. Even Theodore Roosevelt's famous assault on San Juan Hill, made heroic in newspaper accounts of the time, doesn't sound like such a big deal in Jones' careful recounting. (Seems that the future president didn't actually storm up San Juan Hill, but rather a hillock to one side of that prominence. Black soldiers captured San Juan Hill before the Rough Riders even arrived there.) The author's technique of telling his story through various eyes is generally successful, but he could have dropped the viewpoint of a timid Red Cross nurse in favor of more perspective from Joe Mountain, an Arkansas Osage who is every bit as imposing as his moniker implies. All in all, this novel gives readers a much more complete and interesting look at the Cuban end of the Spanish-American War than does, say, Elmore Leonard's newer but heavily romantic "Cuba Libre." However, I prefer the western atmosphere and characters of other Jones novels, especially "The Search for Temperance Moon" and "This Savage Race."
Average customer rating:
- Sinking the Maine is just the beginning!
- A Ship, A War and Stories to Remember
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A Ship to Remember: The Maine and the Spanish-American War
Michael Blow
Manufacturer: William Morrow & Co
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ASIN: 0688097146 |
Customer Reviews:
Sinking the Maine is just the beginning!.......2003-03-27
The Spanish-American war is vividly described, beginning with the sinking of the Maine. Many famous people are involved with the war and Michael Blow weaves a rich story of their actions.
A Ship, A War and Stories to Remember.......2001-09-03
'A Ship to Remember' is an excellent introduction to both the saga of the U.S.S. Maine and the Spanish American War as a whole. In this book, Michael Blow, gives a thorough explanation of the war from political, personal and military perspectives.
Michael Blow, grandson of a crew member of the Maine, begins his narrative with a history of the events which had created such turmoil in Cuba as to attract the attention of the American government and public. He then gives a detailed account of the destruction of the Maine on February 15, 1898. The tale of the investigations examines the theories attempting to explain the explosion and contradicts some myths which many of us have heard. The major issue was whether the Maine was destroyed by an external source, such as a mine, or whether the cause was an accidental mishap internal to the ship. Its Captain, Charles Sigsbee, and much of the American press, always insisted that his command was the victim of a mine. I remember being told in school that the Navy could have very easily determined if the explosion was internal or external, but chose to sink the Maine in deep water before an investigation was concluded. In fact, the vessel was subjected to thorough investigations by both American and Spanish authorities. The American court of inquiry of 1898 concluded that the Maine had been sunk by a mine. Further investigation in 1912 again concluded that the source of the explosion was external. Not until the 1970s did Adm. Hiram Rickover, upon review of the evidence, conclude that the cause of the explosion was internal.
Blow does a good job of analyzing the potential motives of the forces in Cuba which could have attacked the Maine by mine.
The tragedy of the Maine was used by much of the American press to incite the American public, which was already incensed by the Spanish atrocities in Cuba, to demand war. Blow does an excellent job of explaining journalistic agitations and the political maneuvers which lead up to the declaration. He makes clear President McKinley's efforts to seek a peaceful solution to the problem until forced, by political pressures, to ask for a declaration of war.
War having been declared, action first occurred in the Philippines, an unexpected theatre, . The U.S. Navy Asiatic Squadron under Adm. George Dewey had destroyed the Spanish squadron in Manila Bay, giving Dewey command of the Bay, if not the city or archipelago itself. This started the long American debate over what to do with the islands, once the conquest was completed.
With news of a favorable and stable situation in the Philippines, attention switched to the location of the Spanish fleet under Adm. Cervera which had left Cape Verde on April 29, 1898. Until sited near Santiago de Cuba on May 18, speculation about the location of the Spanish fleet was rampant. It was feared from New England to Texas and was reported as being sited as far as the North Atlantic. The fear was so universal that cottages at Newport, Rhode Island were not opened for fear of Spanish attack.
With Cervera in Santiago harbor and the American Army landed in Cuba, that island became the center of attention. The war reached a climax in early July. The American offensive against Santiago was highlighted by the charge of the Rough Riders on July 1. The military pressures against Santiago forced Cervera to attempt to run the fleet out to see against the blockading American forces on July 2. The ensuing running battle resulted in the destruction of the Spanish fleet, ending the Spanish naval threat in the Caribbean.
Toward the end of the book, Blow relates the practical problems presented by the need to return American troops home before tropical diseases accomplished what the Spanish forces had been unable to do. Ample attention is also paid to the political dilemmas in the Unites States created by the conquest of Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Guam.
This narrative is livened by revelations of the characters and personalities of the principal personalities involved, both American and Spanish. Excitement is added to the story by the tale of the dash of the U.S.S. Oregon from the Pacific, around Cape Horn, to arrive in Cuban waters just in time to play a major role in the actions of July 2.
I was left with three major impressions of this war from 'A Ship to Remember'. One is the poor state of communications in comparison to those of today. The cable from Manila having been cut by the Spanish, Adm. Dewey was forced to send a ship back to Hong Kong to wire news of the Battle to Washington. This caused a delay of about a week in the relay of the news to Washington. The other surprise was the utter lack of knowledge about the whereabouts of Adm. Cervera. In this day of aircraft and satellite surveillance, it seems incredible that a fleet could be loose on the high seas for three weeks with its location being unknown over a range of several thousand miles, but it happened.
The second impression is of the Spanish American as a largely naval war. The battle of Manila Bay was won by the Navy. The main threat in the Caribbean was the Spanish fleet, which was hunted down and destroyed by the Navy. While the Army did conquer Cuba through its battles around Santiago, it relied on the Navy for transportation and supply.
The third impression is that this was a war in which American territory was in jeopardy. Although it now seems that it was a war limited to Spanish colonial areas, Cervera did have the potential to have attacked any on of many ports along the eastern seaboard.
When I chose this book I was hoping to obtain a general understanding of the Spanish American war. That hope has been fulfilled.
Book Description
“We were sure that we would win, that we should score the first great triumph in a mighty world-movement.”—
Theodore Roosevelt, 1904
Americans like to think they have no imperial past. In fact, the United States became an imperial nation within five short years a century ago (1898-1903), exploding onto the international scene with the conquest of Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, and (indirectly) Panama. How did the nation become a player in world politics so suddenly—and what inspired the move toward imperialism in the first place?
The renowned diplomat and writer Warren Zimmermann seeks answers in the lives and relationships of five remarkable figures: the hyper-energetic Theodore Roosevelt, the ascetic naval strategist Alfred T. Mahan, the bigoted and wily Henry Cabot Lodge, the self-doubting moderate Secretary of State John Hay, and the hard-edged corporate lawyer turned colonial administrator Elihu Root. Faced with difficult choices, these extraordinary men, all close friends, instituted new political and diplomatic policies with intermittent audacity, arrogance, generosity, paternalism, and vision.
Zimmermann's discerning account of these five men also examines the ways they exploited the readiness of the American people to support a surge of expansion overseas. He makes it clear why no discussion of America's international responsibilities today can be complete without understanding how the United States claimed its global powers a century ago.
Customer Reviews:
History taught through biography.......2007-01-17
Warren Zimmerman uses short but trenchant bios of five important American decision makers and opinion leaders to tell a story about the beginnings of the American empire.
John Hay, Navy Capt. Alfred T. Mahan, Elihu Root, Henry Cabot Lodge and Theodore Roosevelt are the principal actors. These men provided the intellectual atmosphere and the institutional framework that enabled the United States to step away from her traditional isolationism, recognize her place in the world as a power of the first rank, and take up that role. In order for that to happen the American people first had to understand the dangers that expansionist European powers presented to their nation. Zimmerman weaves the various strands that these five men bring to this story as well as the reluctantance of President McKinley and the objections of actors like Mark Twain and former senator and newspaper editor Carl Shurz, into an exciting and thoughtful work. The book is worth the price for the bios of the principals alone but it is the story of this interaction, as skillfully told by Zimmerman, that makes this book so interesting and such a quick read.
For those who believe that America is not an imperial power (though not quite cut in the mold of European imperialism) this book will provide much to think about. For those interested in knowing how we became a world power in such a short time, this book is invaluable.
The author is a former foreign-service officer who obviously has experienced the mixed blessings of the nation's global responsibilities.
Must read book about our history.......2006-12-14
If you want to know how the United States became a great power this is the book to read. The United States quest for empire and manifest destiny can be summed up by the five men covered in this book: TR, Elihu Root, John Hay, Alfred Mahan and Henry Cabot Lodge. The book focuses on conquest in the Philippines, Cuba and Mexico as well as the importance of the Panama Canal. It is a very interesting read that offers a lot about the course of US Empire. Imperialism and Americanism can be seen as one in the same during this time period and these five people acting together set America on a course to become not only a great power but eventually a super power. A must have for anyone interested in America's imperial past.
"Always five, acting as one.".......2005-10-08
Empire building is not necessarily a bad thing. As such the First Great Triumph tries to force the reader to understand our nations obsession with empire and empire
building. The book starts off by telling us about the west. Our nation was growing and the American people were driven to move across the country to carve out homes
and states west of the Mississippi. Once our nation grew from sea to shining sea the energies behind empire building became global. We could no longer focus our
energies on the continent of North America, so we had to look outward. This incredible drive to expand, and the passions behind it, became a central part of the American
spirit.
But in order to bring our manifest destiny to the global scale we had to become a force that would be strong enough to hold on to our gains. As such we needed to
become a first rate power. One who could compete among the nations of old for dominancy in this brave new world.In order to gain such power we needed leadership to
guide us. Theirfore the First Great Triumph is not only about empire building but about the figures who helped bring our nation into this new found power. The author
concentrates on five powerful Americans. They are ; Theodore Roosevelt, Alfred T. Mahan, Henry Cabot Lodge, John Hay, and Elihu Root. All of which , our author feels,
were instrumental in guiding our nation onto the world scene. The belief the author has is that without these five, our nation would not have risen to our present status of
a world power. Let us examine why.
The top of the pyramid was Theodore Roosevelt. It was his leadership that made our nation's stature as a world power possible. An influential man both as a states
man and president. It was he who had the vision to build up America's naval power and turn it loose upon the world. The great white fleet was assembled and sent out
under his guidence. The showing of such a fleet of ships was enough to prove to the world that we had become a first rate power. Under Theodore's leadership we gained
influence in both Latin America and the Pacific. This was due to Theodore's timely usage of naval power. Theodore had also assembled a cast of first rate leaders around
him and was able to use them to the best of his abilities. Theodore was able to delegate his many tasks among the two others to help establish American hegemony.
Root was given the task of setting up the government of our conqured territories while Hay was given the task of handling our nations diplomacy with the other forgein
powers. Both performed admirably and were able to give Theodore a stable base from which he could direct his energies upon the world.
John Hay was the statesman from which all diplomacy flowed. He was pro-europe but also an American. As such his unique perspective allowed him to see problems
and solutions from both sides. As such he was an excellent diplomat and arbitrator. Theodore would view him weak, but in reality Hay's greatest strength was his ability
to have patience. His skills with diplomacy , when used, would help smooth out problems the U.S. was having and as a direct result Hay would win wars with words
instead of bullets.
But diplomacy and leadership are not the only tools one needs to run a country. You need beauraucrcy, that day to day grind that makes politics and government
possible. For that we had Elihu Root. Root was instrumental in creating new ways of governing our new acquisitions. They were not perfect but they showed us what
could work, and what could not work. As such Root would be able to show our government how to administer conquered territories. Root's ability to do this paved the way
for our country's dealings with later nations and later wars.
While Theodore's trio was able to expand the power of the executive branch, Lodge was able to channel the energies of the legislative branch to greatness. Lodge was
not only an incredible intelectual but he was a man of vision. He dreamed of an imperial American, one that could rival Brittain in both power and strength. As such Lodge
dedicated his abilities into keeping the pressure up on the legislative branch. His dedication to empire building left a stamp on congress and Lodge's actions helped sway
several presidents towards the battle for empire. His observations of the dying world regime helped stir the American public into understanding their new role in the world.
Spain was dying and Brittain was winding down. As such the American star was rising and a key to world dominance would be by gaining American soverignty over the
area in the Pacific.
All of these thoughts for empire stem from Alfred T. Mahan. It was his writtings on seaman ship and Naval power that got this entire ball rolling. In order for a nation to
be great you had to be able to control the Oceans. Mahan had based his writtings on history and how the ancients giants, throught time, all had control of the seas
(Oceans). He argued that the United States would always be considered a second rate power as long as their Navy was second rate. To build up the NAvy not only meant
new ships. It also meant the training of a profesional class of sailors, new technologies, and refueling ports / way stations for the ships to be based at. Only by combining
these three points would the U.S. gain dominancy in the world's seas and as a direct result gain dominancy on the world.
But in order to understand history we sometimes have to look at how the author presents his material. What I found at in this book was that it is not an enjoyable read.
The author has fallen in love with the big five and treats them like lovers. Their faults are glossed over and their actions are heightened to god like epics. As such you
agree with the author. After all the author believes that these five mortal men changed the face of America. By their labors, and their labors alone, they turned our country
into a first rate power. But the author is biased. It is his thesis after all that these men made America, so he will do anything and everything to back it up. Now the author
never lies about the five, but he does seam to make them heroic. Never the devil, these five are always building our country up and never bringing it back down. They are
the "Music Makers" after all and to attack any one of these idols would be an assault to the author. One he could not stand.
The author wants you to feel sympathy for the five as both men and Gods. As such he imerses you into their past. Hopeing to gain your sympathy and trust the author
instead disgusts and bores you. After all the book will speak of the historic events these men made, yet instead of completing the story, our author has decided to fill you
in on the history of the "music Makers" while in the midst of the story. Instead of breaking down the history of the characters in an orderly fashion, you instead are given
snippets of the character's personality. Once the personality is constructed you are then given the history of the person. But this history is given piece meal and while the
author is narrating a story. As such the reader can become confused and bored while learning about these heros. It is also obvious that the book was written for an
audience already familiar with the five. As such amusing incidents are placed , like Easter eggs, throught the entire book. Instead of amusing, I found them unapropriate.
The detracted from the content of the book since I was out of the loop and unable to figure out the joke.
The book is also a racist book. This is not to say it is a bad thing but the book has been written with the gloves off. Theirfore it is shocking to read about. Now I did
enjoy the honesty the author wrote about. After all it is rare now adays to read a piece of work that has not been cleansed by the censors. The author's dealings about
empire building stir strong emotions in people. His objective look at how race influenced empire building was refreshing. All to often we stay mute on race. It is a tender
subject. But you can not deny how the concept of race has shaped our nation. Learning that our nation of the past felt so strongly about white America helped shed light
on these topics. The conflict of civil rights has always been a sore spot in our nations history. Now, at last, you can understand some of the pettiness and even some of
the injustices. To know that our nation had dificulty dealing with our black population is one thing. But to finally learn that our nation thought all races but the white man's
were beneath his was fascinating. And these ideas were ones our nation was building it's empire on. Even with all the bias and hero worship in this book I still feel that it
is a must read. Simply for the way the book reaches you about race relations and how the White man viewed his world back then.
The First Great Triumph not only teaches you about the founding of modern day America and the people who helped create it but it also teaches you the reader about
his own personal history with the United States. As such a bridge is formed between past and present and we can learn about our American heritage in all its being. That
being both monstrous and glorious.
Americanism. Imperalism. Manifest Destiny - 5 Americans.......2004-07-25
What do the above have in common? The answer is provided quite nicely in Warren Zimmerman's book "First Great Triumph". In it, he explains what 5 great Americans - John Hay, Alfred Thayer Mahan, Theodore Roosevelt, Hencry Cabot Lodge, and Elihu Root had to do with the forming of the American century (the 20th Century).
Each of these men played his own role in creating Imperialistic America, starting in the late 19th century, and their contributions to American foreign policy continue through to this day.
This is an important book for anyone that wants to understand the personalities of these five men and the actions that each took to make America the dominant player in world affairs that it has been during the last 100+ years.
The book is divided into two sections; biographical sketches of each of these five men, and then a section on how America became an Imperalistic power, similar to Great Britain or any of a number of the European countries in earlier centuries. Starting with the Spanish American war, the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands, and pushing through to American intervention in World War I, this book does a fantastic job of explaining the events that occured and the personalities involved.
I now understand why Zimmerman chose these five men to study in this book - when I first started to read it, I thought that perhaps others, such as William McKinley or William H. Seward should have been included in the biography section, but Seward's contributions were too early to be included in this study, and McKinley was too reserved to be included in a group of men that firmly believed in American expansion, much as earlier Americans had proclaimed "Mainfest Destiny".
I enjoyed the book greatly, and would highly recommend it to anyone that is looking for a study of early American foreign policy, or an understanding of why America played such a big role in world events during the 20th century.
America's First Empire.......2004-06-24
This book by a former U.S. Ambassador is an elegantly-written history of the Spanish-American War of 1898, when the United States acquired colonies in the Caribbean and the Pacific and emerged as a major world power. The nuanced, balanced narrative deals with "big picture" geopolitics and historical trends but never loses sight of the human factor or the role that ego and personal ambition played in America's rise to power. Zimmerman doesn't flinch from concluding that American troops committed atrocities in the Philippines or that our acquisition of Hawaii and the Panama canal zone was little more than theft. At the same time, he avoids ahistorical condemnations of turn-of-the-century imperialism. His book will leave leftwing revisionists and flag-waving rightists equally disappointed -- surely a sign of scholarly achievement.
"First Great Tiumph" brims with insights into diplomacy and politics, based on Zimmerman's many years in the U.S. foreign service. Indeed, many parts of the book are eerily topical, such as the discussion of how war-lover Theodore Roosevelt seized on the sinking of the battleship Maine as a pretext for a war in Cuba. The book was published prior to the non-discovery of the much-hyped WMDs in Iraq but the parallels to current events are there for any intelligent reader to see. I gave the book four stars instead of five only because the "multi-biographical" approach is a bit contrived and results in the inclusion of much unnecessary biographical material in the first section of the book.
Book Description
The roots of American globalization can be seen in its participation in the War of 1898. Then, as today, the United States actively engaged in globalizing its economic order, its political institutions, and its values. Thomas Schoonover argues that this drive to expand political and cultural reach—the quest for wealth, missionary fulfillment, security, power, and prestige—was inherited by the United States from Europe, especially Spain and Great Britain.
Uncle Sam's War of 1898 and the Origins of Globalization is a pathbreaking work of history that examines U.S. growth from its early nationhood to its first major military conflict on the world stage, also known as the Spanish-American War. As the fledgling nation's military, industrial, and economic strength developed, the United States created policies designed to protect itself from challenges beyond its borders. According to Schoonover, a surge in U.S. activity in the Gulf-Caribbean and in Central America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was catalyzed by the same avarice and competitiveness that motivated the European adventurers to seek a route to Asia centuries earlier.
Addressing the basic chronology and themes of the first century of the nation's expansion, Schoonover locates the origins of the U.S. goal of globalization. U.S. involvement in the War of 1898 reflects many of the fundamental patterns in our national history—exploration and discovery, labor exploitation, violence, racism, class conflict, and concern for security—that many believe shaped America's course in the twentieth and twenty-first century.
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- Summary for the defense of the indefensible
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War and Genocide in Cuba, 1895-1898 (Envisioning Cuba)
John Lawrence Tone
Manufacturer: The University of North Carolina Press
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The Chosen Island: Jews in Cuba
ASIN: 0807830062 |
Book Description
From 1895 to 1898, Cuban insurgents fought to free their homeland from Spanish rule. Though often overshadowed by the "Splendid Little War" of the Americans in 1898, the longer Spanish-Cuban conflict, according to John Tone, was in fact more remarkable, foreshadowing the wars of decolonization in the twentieth century.
Employing newly released evidence, including hospital records, intercepted Cuban letters, battle diaries from both sides, and Spanish administrative records, Tone offers new answers to old questions concerning the war. He examines the origin of Spain's genocidal policy of "reconcentration"; the causes of Spain's military difficulties; the condition, effectiveness, and popularity of the Cuban insurgency; the necessity of American intervention; and Spain's supposed foreknowledge of defeat.
The Spanish-Cuban-American war proved pivotal in the histories of all three countries involved. Tone's fresh analysis will provoke new discussions and debates among historians and human rights scholars as they reexamine the war in which the concentration camp was invented, Cuba was born, Spain lost its empire, and America gained an overseas empire.
Customer Reviews:
Summary for the defense of the indefensible.......2007-03-08
Tone, John Lawrence 2006 War and Genocide in Cuba, 1895-1898 The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill. ISBN-10 0807830062 ISBN-13: 978-0807830062
This is an interesting book, but I find it misleading. In a laudable attempt to present all sides of the circumstance of genocide in during the Cuban Wars of Independence, the author has relied too heavily on data from dubious sources. In addition the author seems to have made those ideological compromises that are the common currency paid to access Cuban government archives. Examples of this follow (page numbers refer to hard copy edition).
Gerardo Machado on page 198 is mentioned as being mainly rustler citing Spanish sources, a matter generally considered alleged but not proven, but there is no mention of Machado's far more prominent career in independent Cuba. Quintín Banderas' "diary" is cited as probable source in the footnotes of Chapter Thirteen (footnote 43 p. 305) without the consideration that Banderas was one of the few Cuban war leaders who was considered illiterate.
Tone's ideological stance is made very apparent when in the very last paragraph of the book (p. 287) he makes is appear that the Spanish military was uniquely criminal in the vicious and cruel Spanish Civil War, ignoring the circumstance that the author's "striking Spanish workers," had also been murderous and indiscriminate in their killings.
Tone tends to label members of the social structures he apparently disapproves of non-neutral terms, for instance he labels owners of sugar plantations and mills as "sugar baron" (e.g. p. 16) evoking a inaccurate medieval image such as the Norman barons at Runnymede. He, as is unfortunately only too common among non-Cuban historians dealing with Cuba, labels rural inhabitants as peasants (e.g. p. 21), ignoring the very real fact that the Güajiros, commonly rode horses, and were usually armed with at least a machete, circumstances usually denied to European peasants.
However, aside from the classist but common use of the term peasant, instead of Güajiro for the rural inhabitants of Cuba, the author does makes a excellent point that the rural inhabitants of eastern Cuba were different, diverse and independent (pp. 21-22 and others).
Tone offers excuses for Spanish government actions in this regard (p. 23 ) citing British action in South Africa (a lesser but sad event), and not documented references to U.S. actions in the Philippines and Vietnam. This is most odd, since the author does not mention the massive horrors of Soviet actions such as in the Ukraine, Mao's actions in China, and the killing fields of Cambodia. The Armenian genocides roughly contemporary to the events described in this book, are also not mentioned.
Thus, in summary one can only accept the author's (see pp. 209-223 and others) constantly cited 170,000 figure for Cuban civilian dead in la Re-concentracion as a minimal figure for this horrible time. None the less this book is useful given its scholarship, but only if one considers it to be a "summary for the defense of the indefensible."
Amazon.com
The Spanish American War is remembered more for its enormous political ramifications than for the actual fighting. It marked the end of the Spanish empire in the New World; secured Cuban independence (under U.S. oversight); transferred ownership of Guam, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico to the United States; propelled war hero Theodore Roosevelt to the vice presidency and soon the White House itself; and, most important, signaled the rise of the United States as a global superpower. The War with Spain in 1898, David F. Trask's definitive account, balances the political and military aspects of the conflict. Highlights include the sinking of the U.S. battleship Maine in the Havana harbor and Roosevelt leading his Rough Riders in a brave charge up San Juan Hill. A Mort Kunstler painting of Admiral George Dewey attacking the Spanish fleet at Manila (where he won a spectacular victory) graces the cover.
Book Description
“Remember the Maine!” The war cry spread throughout the United States after the American battleship was blown up in Havana harbor on February 15, 1898. Americans, already sympathetic with Cuba’s struggle for independence from Spain, demanded action. Brief and decisive, not too costly, the Spanish-American War made the United States a world power.
David F. Trask’s War with Spain in 1898 is a cogent political and military history of that “splendid little war.” It describes the failure of diplomacy; the state of preparedness of both sides; the battles, including those of Theodore Roosevelt and his Rough Riders; the enlargement of conflict to rout the Spanish from Puerto Rico and the Philippines; and the misconceptions surrounding the war.
Customer Reviews:
best single volume history of the war.......2000-06-20
A reader seeking to understand the causes and consequences of the War of 1898 would do well to begin with Trask's analysis. The volume is a broad overview of a pivotal moment in the development of U.S. foreign policy, but it manages to preserve clarity and insight despite its scope. It sharply undermines the standard revisionist interpretation of American behavior, forwarded for example by Perez and Foner, which holds that the United States engaged Spain in a war over Cuba in order to keep the island for itself. It does so by convincingly demonstrating that domestic politics in the United States and Spain set the two nations on a collision course with each other (but see Offner for the best presentation of these politics), although it does not say enough about how racism allowed the United States to ignore the legitimacy of Cuba's claims to independence. It mostly succeeds by showing how simple accidents of history, such as the de Lome letter, the mysterious explosion of the Maine, and the conquest of the Philippines by the United States (which was undertaken for reasons related to basic military strategy, not sinister imperial ambitions) prodded events along and restricted the legitimate options available to policymakers. In retrospect, a war entered into for ostensibly humanitarian reasons but resulting in a global empire for America seems obviously to have been the product of selfish, two-faced conspirators. As Trask's thoroughly documented and ably argued narrative reveals, however, sometimes intellectually coherent interpretations say more about the interpreter than the events themselves. A loaded moment in the history of the United States, Spain, Cuba, and the Philippines, the War of 1898 has generated almost as many interpretations as authors. For the best and least biased account of this episode, consult Trask.
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