Comment

The Imperial Cruise

a Secret History of Empire and War
Mar 13, 2016Dino789 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
It's easy to see the political leanings of the commenters by what they think of this book, but hard to interpret the facts behind the opinions. Certainly the United States made many mistakes in foreign policy, some of which made Japan's attack on the U.S. not as surprising as it is frequently portrayed. I enjoyed this book and thought it gave an interesting perspective on United States manipulation of foreign governments that later backfired. In retrospect, the overthrows in the Philippines and Hawaii were in violation of the law at that time, and did contribute to World War II. I wish the people who denigrate (or praise) this book would say why they feel this way, instead of simply disagreeing with it and claiming it is "spin." What errors did the author make in relating the facts, and drawing conclusions from those facts? The U.S. often claims to behave morally in its dealings with other nations; it's tragic when secret activities undermine those morals and damage relationships with other nations, as it this book describes.