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

How to Hide an Empire examines the United States' overseas territories and possessions—islands, atolls, and archipelagos—and their role in American imperial power. While maps typically show only the fifty states, the country has governed and inhabited numerous territories beyond the mainland. Daniel Immerwahr traces forgotten episodes from U.S. territorial history. He covers the Guano Islands, where prospectors extracted a valuable nineteenth-century commodity; the Philippines, site of a destructive event on U.S. soil; and Puerto Rico, where U.S. doctors conducted experiments and independence movements emerged, including armed action against Congress. After World War II, Immerwahr argues, the United States shifted away from direct colonialism. Instead, it leveraged innovations in electronics, transportation, and culture to establish influence without controlling colonies. The book presents historical vignettes and explores what empire and globalization mean in this context.