Among Empires: American Ascendancy and Its Predecessors

Charles S. Maier

Published by Harvard University Press 2007

Among Empires

American Ascendancy and Its Predecessors

Charles S. Maier

https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674040458

Overview
Contents

About this book

Maier examines the structure and impact of empires and asks whether the U.S. shares their traits and behavior. He outlines the essentials of empire throughout history, then explores the exercise of U.S. power in the 19th and 20th centuries. With dispassion and clarity, this book offers bold comparisons and an original account of American power.

Reviews

This is a truly masterly essay, which brilliantly succeeds in setting the phenomenon of American ascendancy in its proper historical context—as the one of many forms of imperial organization. Much has been written of late on the subject of American empire. In its multi-faceted erudition and its scrupulous ambivalence, Among Empires is in a league of its own. I cannot praise it too highly. I envy its author's scholarship and the wonderful subtlety of his analysis.
-- Niall Ferguson, author of Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power

Many of us wonder in what ways our country is--and is not--like the empires of the past. We wonder, too, if we can profit from their triumphs or learn from their failures. In this elegantly written tour de force of fair-minded comparative history, Charles Maier provides us with the materials for answering these questions for ourselves.
-- Kwame Anthony Appiah, author of The Ethics of Identity

Charles Maier's explorations of imperial predicaments are both broad and deep. His historically rich and analytically focused approach illuminates America's ascendancy in world affairs. This elegant book is a gem of circumspect wisdom.
-- Peter J. Katzenstein, author of A World of Regions: Asia and Europe in the American Imperium

Powerful in analysis, rich in learning, dazzling in historical sweep and elegant in style, Among Empires will become a modern classic, indispensable to our understanding of the powerful forces that govern our world.
-- Ronald Steel, author of Temptations of a Superpower

Maier's brilliant study of the nature of imperial power throughout history offers a glimpse not only at the character of empire but also at how the current American political regime measures up to past empires...Maier's subtle study brooks no rivals in its assessment of American empire. (Starred review)
-- Publishers Weekly

Maier has a masterful historic grasp and his analysis is wide-ranging and comprehensive. However, this is by no means an introductory book, and students who wish to know more about the subject will be challenged by its discursive and reflective style. On the other hand, for those who have an understanding of the issues, Maier's virtuoso analysis and its broad historic sweep will be both informative and entertaining. The book makes a major contribution to current debates and should be widely consulted by anyone interested in contemporary international events.
-- Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare

Having defined empire and laid out the precedents, Maier traces the last sixty years of American action on the world stage. Readers can judge for themselves if and when the U.S. turned imperial.
-- James Morone London Review of Books

Charles Maier has pulled off a remarkable feat by writing a book on empire that dwells largely on the recent history of the United States and that is explicitly and even agressively nonpartisan.
-- Harold James Journal of Modern History

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Prologue: Questions at the Outset Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
PART ONE: Recurring Structures
Introduction: The Imperial Arena Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	19
1. What Is an Empire? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	24
2. Frontiers 78 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	78
3. “Call It Peace” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	112
PART TWO: America’s Turn
Introduction: Highland Park and Hiroshima Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	143
4. Frontiers and Forces in the Cold War Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	151
5. An Empire of Production Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	191
6. An Empire of Consumption Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	238
Afterword: The Vase of Uruk Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	285
Tables Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	297
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	301
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	347
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	351

Language: English
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 384

eBook

Published: July 1, 2009
ISBN: 9780674040458