Cómo ocultar un imperio

This is a groundbreaking story about America's overseas possessions and the true meaning of its empire. We are familiar with the maps that delimit the fifty states. But what about the other royal territories - islands, atolls and archipelagos - that he has ruled and inhabited? Immerwahr tells the fascinating story of America outside of America, revealing forgotten episodes that shed a new light on American history. From the Guano Islands, where prospectors collected one of the most valuable products of the 19th century, to the Philippines, the scene of the most destructive event on American soil, or Puerto Rico, where American doctors carried out horrifying experiments that they would never have performed on the continent. But in the years after World War II, Immerwahr points out, the country moved away from colonialism to pursue innovations in electronics, transportation and culture, thus devising a new kind of influence that did not require control of the colonies. Loaded with compelling detail, and a fresh take on what empire and globalization mean today, How to Hide an Empire is a remarkable, compulsive-reading piece of history.