America: From White Settlement to World Hegemony

By Victor G. Kiernan

Book Overview

While there have been many analyses of American imperialism, few have equaled the breadth or insight of America: From White Settlement to World Hegemony, which was one of the first books to provide a historical perspective on the origins of the American empire.

Victor Kiernan, heralded by Edward Said as the "great Scottish historian of empire," employs a nuanced knowledge of history, literature, and politics in his tracing of the evolution of American power. Far reaching and ambitious in its scope, the book combines accounts of the changing relationship between Native Americans and the white population with readings of the works of key cultural figures such as Melville and Whitman, as well as an analysis of the way in which money and politics became so closely intertwined in American democracy. The result is a compelling account of how the country came to be the dangerous global power that it is today. Brought up-to-date with an afterword by John Trumpbour, research director at Harvard Law School, this new edition includes a look at America's ongoing war on terror.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1783605987
• ISBN13: 9781783605989
• Release Date: October 2015
• Publisher: Zed Books
• Length: 472 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

A MASTER WORK

It took me just over a week to finish reading Mr Kiernan's work. I had no idea who he was but was attracted by the cover and the title and, if I'm honest, Eric Hobsbawm's preface. This is the best-written and most educative history of our country and its wars that I've ever read. I finished school over a year ago and have been travelling the world. This amazing history taught me more than I'd ever learnt at NYU. This book should be on every history reading list. I'm not saying that I expect everyone to agree with its arguments, but simply in the interests of diversity and freedom of thought. I was educated on Professor Niall Ferguson's work (he, too, like Kiernan is a Scot!), but THE NEW IMPERIALISM was a wonderful antidote.