Empire by Default: The Spanish-American War and the Dawn of the American Century
by Ivan Musicant
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Description
After the battleship Maine blew up in the harbor of Havana, America, just far enough removed from the gore of the Civil War to think battle a romantic testing ground, was at fever pitch. War would come, and with it, seismic changes in world power alignments. After this, America's first imperial overseas adventure, the nation would be acknowledged internationally as a global player with a navy second to none. It was the dawn of the American Century. Here, moving from the councils of Madrid to show more the conferences in Washington, from the victory at Manila Bay to the battle of San Juan Hill, from factional in-fighting to inflammatory journalism, prizewinning historian Ivan Musicant offers a definitive account. Step-by-step, Musicant takes the reader through the thicket of arguments and decisions that led to America's almost accidental mantling as an imperial power. Here are the issues and debates, the strategies and obstacles, the ideals, interests, and missed opportunities. Here, too, are the political conflicts of the day--conflicts that America would encounter repeatedly in the century to come and that reveal as much about the flaws in its governmental system as they do about the ambiguities in the nation's vision of itself. show lessTags
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Author Information
5 Works 476 Members
Awards and Honors
Common Knowledge
- People/Characters
- Theodore Roosevelt; Russell Alger; Pascual Cervera y Topete; Richard Harding Davis; William Rufus Day; George Dewey (show all 11); John Davis Long; William McKinley; Nelson Miles; William T. Sampson; William Rufus Shafter
- Important places
- Cuba; The Philippines; Puerto Rico
- Important events
- Spanish-American War (1898)
Classifications
- Genres
- History, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 973.89 — History & geography History of North America United States The Gilded Age, Reconstruction, Spanish American War (1865-1901) Spanish American War 1898
- LCC
- E715 .M97 — History of the United States United States Late nineteenth century, 1865-1900 McKinley's first administration, 1897-1901 War of 1898 (Spanish-American War)
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 167
- Popularity
- 195,356
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.62)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 3
- ASINs
- 2
