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Author Maier, Charles S.

Title Among empires : American ascendancy and its predecessors / Charles S. Maier.

Publication Info. Cambridge, Mass. ; London : Harvard University Press, 2007.

Item Status

Edition 1st Harvard University Press pbk. ed.
Description 1 online resource (373 pages)
Physical Medium polychrome
Description text file
Note Originally published: 2006.
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 301-346) and index.
Contents I: Recurring structures -- The imperial arena -- What is an empire? -- Frontiers -- "Call it peace" -- II: America's turn -- Highland Park and Hiroshima -- Frontiers and forces in the Cold War -- An empire of production -- An empire of consumption -- The vase of Uruk.
Access Use copy Restrictions unspecified MiAaHDL
Reproduction Electronic reproduction. [S.l.] : HathiTrust Digital Library, 2010. MiAaHDL
System Details Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212 MiAaHDL
Processing Action digitized 2010 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve MiAaHDL
Summary Contemporary America, with its unparalleled armaments and ambition, seems to many commentators a new empire. Others angrily reject the designation. What stakes would being an empire have for our identity at home and our role abroad? A preeminent American historian addresses these issues in light of the history of empires since antiquity. This elegantly written book examines the structure and impact of these mega-states and asks whether the United States shares their traits and behavior. Eschewing the standard focus on current U.S. foreign policy and the recent spate of pro- and anti-empire polemics, Charles S. Maier uses comparative history to test the relevance of a concept often invoked but not always understood. Marshaling a remarkable array of evidence--from Roman, Ottoman, Moghul, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, and British experience--Maier outlines the essentials of empire throughout history. He then explores the exercise of U.S. power in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, carefully analyzing its economic and strategic sources and the nation's relationship to predecessors and rivals. To inquire about empire is to ask what the United States has become as a result of its wealth, inventiveness, and ambitions. It is to confront lofty national aspirations with the realities of the violence that often attends imperial politics and thus to question both the costs and the opportunities of the current U.S. global ascendancy. With learning, dispassion, and clarity, Among Empires offers bold comparisons and an original account of American power. It confirms that the issue of empire must be a concern of every citizen.
Local Note eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America
Subject National characteristics, American.
National characteristics, American.
Imperialism -- History.
Imperialism.
History.
Imperialism -- Case studies.
Genre/Form Case studies.
Subject United States -- Foreign relations -- 19th century.
United States.
International relations.
Chronological Term 19th century
Subject United States -- Foreign relations -- 20th century.
Chronological Term 20th century
1800-1999
Genre/Form Electronic books.
History.
Case studies.
Other Form: Print version: Maier, Charles S. Among empires. 1st Harvard University Press pbk. ed. Cambridge, Mass. ; London : Harvard University Press, 2007 9780674025561 0674025563 (OCoLC)159631693
ISBN 9780674040458 (electronic book)
0674040457 (electronic book)
0674025563
9780674025561
0674021894 (alkaline paper)
9780674021891 (alkaline paper)
9780674025561