This book is a great example of the "progressive" BS that is being taught in our universities. Its revisionist thesis is that, during the 20th Century, the United States ruled a "hidden" colonial empire which rivaled that of Great Britain. The examples given are almost comical in their inventiveness, such as FDR discriminating against Filipinos by referring to the Japanese attacks in 1941 as being on December 7th in Hawaii rather than December 8 in the Philippines (because of the International Date Line between them). Similar logical sleights-of-hand are dissembled throughout the book.
The author (an associate professor of history at Northwestern University!) also displays an astonishing lack of knowledge about the Panama Canal, claiming that Panamanian nationalists merely gave it to the U.S. in return for diplomatic recognition. In reality, the Canal was a French project that went bankrupt before it could be completed. The U.S. Government inquired about buying it from the French, who wanted too much for it ($150 million). So the U.S. Congress authorized the building of a new canal through Nicaragua. Before it could be started, the French dropped their price to $50 million and TR snapped up the bargain. THAT is why the Canal is in Panama instead of Nicaragua.
The author (an associate professor of history at Northwestern University!) also displays an astonishing lack of knowledge about the Panama Canal, claiming that Panamanian nationalists merely gave it to the U.S. in return for diplomatic recognition. In reality, the Canal was a French project that went bankrupt before it could be completed. The U.S. Government inquired about buying it from the French, who wanted too much for it ($150 million). So the U.S. Congress authorized the building of a new canal through Nicaragua. Before it could be started, the French dropped their price to $50 million and TR snapped up the bargain. THAT is why the Canal is in Panama instead of Nicaragua.
