How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States | 
Such a great revisionist history! Very similar in content and form to a Greg Grandin book. “How To Hide An Empire” is about the history of the Greater United States— not just the mainland, or “logo map”, but former and present territories, too, with especial focus on the Philippines and Puerto Rico. Legit required reading!!
June's bookclub selection picked by my lovely friend Marge. Have read the introduction so far, it was preachy.
This book is a wild ride. So many things I didn‘t know about that the US has done and how empirical and imperialist they are while somehow mainly avoiding being labeled as such. It was well written in a way that mixes fact and story telling. I would definitely recommend it as a reality check to many.
pickMust read. I cannot believe how much of this I didn‘t know. We really don‘t know anything about American history. At all.
pickBelated review: ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ - Couldn't put it down! Fascinating! Horrifying! Enlightening!
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I feel I received a pretty good education and had some incredible teachers and professors. However, classroom education is limited regardless of how esteemed the school is, how great the teachers are, and how uncensored the curriculum may be. Some books come along from time to time and remind us just how little we have learned. This is one such book!
My husband's view of me "helping" hang the icicle lights last night! ?
I just can't put this book down. I'm so struck by the information and history presented here that I'm even dreaming about it! Some of it is trivial (the US briefly considered making Iceland a state), much of it is horrific (years of medical experimentation in Puerto Rico), and, unsurprisingly, plenty is fueled by racism (delays to AK and HI statehood). 100 pages to go!
WWII in the Phillipines was, "...the most destructive event ever to take place on U.S. soil."
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"This was a soldier who had taken a long journey across the Pacific. He'd been briefed on his mission, shown maps, told where to go and whom to shoot. Yet at no point had it dawned on him that he was preparing to save a U.S. colony and that the people [...] there were, just like him, U.S. nationals. He thought he was invading a foreign country." (p.212)
Half way through and I'm learning so much! Mark Twain the anti-imperialist, details of the Spanish-American War and Cuba, medical experimentation in Puerto Rico, Douglas MacArthur and the Phillipines, Japan's invasion of Alaska and the US internment of Alaskan peoples (both of which were heavily censored in the mainland).
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Once again, I bought a book to gift someone and have found myself engrossed in it! Might have to buy a second copy!
Woke up and before I could even get out my PJs and make a cup of coffee, I picked this book up again. It‘s seriously good - I can‘t put it down!
Starting this one today 🤓 Paired with Dunkin‘ because.. it‘s what America runs on ☕️
Every week, I think I should read happier books. But then I read something so on point for the current events.
For that second America, Twain proposed adding a few words to the Declaration of Independence: "Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed white men." He suggested a modified flag: red, black, and blue, with the stars replaced by a skull and crossbones.
Heard about on NPR. My first bookshop purchase. Can‘t put it down!
pickErudite yet eminently accessible, this book crosses the centuries and circles the globe while still feeling intimate and animate. Packed with fun facts along side of Things We Should Have Learned in School, I found this an engaging read albeit a tad overlong. Still, highly recommended and probably one I‘ll purchase for my permanent collection. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️-1/2
I think of my fellow Littens who live in countries where English is not the first language, and yet they‘re compelled to read books in English, or at least to write about them in English on this Anglo-centric platform. It hardly seems fair. And yet I‘m part of the problem, monolingual that I am.
Learning so much about the history of the ‘Greater United States‘ from this book! Did you know the Japanese bombed Alaska and conquered several Aleutian Islands during WWII? And that Hawaii was placed under martial law for 3 years? This despite greater than average numbers of war bonds purchased, soldiers enlisted, or medals awarded to service members from these territories. Crazy!!
I‘m only on page 16 of this book and I‘ve already learned so much, including this little tidbit about the origins of the design of the U.S. dollar. Who knew?
I‘m calling it at 26 titles for August!
The 6️⃣ in the top row were my favorites. The best of the month is tagged.
Only 5️⃣ were nonfiction, because I went on a pretty heavy romance binge in the middle of the month. My favorite romances were WAIT FOR IT and KULTI, both by Mariana Zapata.
9️⃣ were by authors of color. So I‘m doing pretty well on that goal this month!
How about you? How was your August? #howjessreadsin2019
Japan attacked all of these places on December 7, 1941, but the only attack we ever hear about is the one on Pearl Harbor.
pickBeautifully written, well documented & researched account of America's lesser known history. The author does an excellent job of backing his claim that America has been and is an Empire all while expanding the reader's view of American foreign policy.
#NonFiction #History #ForeignPolicy #GreenvilleSC
Added this 500+ page commentary to my To-Read stack. Love the cover design!
#History #Commentary #Society #GreenvilleSC
Starting two books today - the tagged non-fiction and the next in my re-read of the Immortals After Dark series.
