How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States

An innovative history of American overseas territories and the real significance of its empire

Maps showing the locations of all fifty states are known to us. Furthermore, the notion that the US is a global powerhouse, or "empire," is well-known to us. However, what about the real areas that this nation has colonized and ruled over—the islands, atolls, and archipelagos?

Daniel Immerwahr recounts the amazing tale of the United States outside of its borders in his book How to Hide an Empire. He unveils little-known incidents that give a fresh perspective on American history in prose that crackles and moves quickly. We visit the Philippines, the scene of the most catastrophic incident to occur on American soil, and the Guano Islands, where prospectors amassed one of the most valuable commodities of the nineteenth century. Immerwahr tracks the rise of independence militants who would blow up the US Congress and demonstrates how American doctors carried out gruesome experiments in Puerto Rico that they would never have done on the US mainland.

Immerwahr points out that the United States moved away from colonialism in the years following World War II. Rather, it leveraged advancements in technology, transportation, and culture to create a new kind of power that did not depend on spatial control. How to Hide an Empire is a significant and engrossingly readable volume of history, chock full of captivating anecdotes, surprises, and an innovative understanding of what empire and globalization mean today.