Washington, DC Distinguished historian and author Walter L. Hixson’s new book chronicles the full sweep of American history. This book provides a clear-eyed assessment rather than a celebratory account of US military history. Based upon the most up to date literature, American Imperialism and War analyzes the evolution of military history from the first settlers to the forever wars of the twenty-first century. It illuminates broad themes in American military history, including the role of warfare in relation to American society as a whole.
Walter L. Hixson since 2019 serves as columnist and contributing editor at the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. His two recent books on the Israel lobby are Architects of Repression: How Israel and its Lobby Put Racism, Violence and Injustice at the Center of US Middle East Policy (Institute for Research, 2021) and Israel’s Armor: The Israel Lobby and the First Generation of the Palestine Conflict. (Cambridge University Press, 2019).
Praise for “Imperialism and War” from major scholars and historians:
“Admirably concise, briskly written, pulling no punches: Imperialism and War lays bare the pernicious relationship between American Exceptionalism and the American penchant for empire. Walter Hixson has written a compelling and essential book.”
Andrew Bacevich, author of After the Apocalypse: America’s Role in a World Transformed
“With the country lamenting its ‘forever wars,’ it is salutary for all to be reminded that for the victims they’ve been ‘forever’ for half a millennium. Reminded, and deeply informed, as they will be from this expert and judicious study of imperial history.
Noam Chomsky, linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist.
“Based on a solid body of historical work, diplomatic historian Walter Hixson eloquently and persuasively argues that the US foreign policy of imperialism and war is making the future of humanity impossible. Forged in unending wars of continental conquest and overseas domination, the United States continues on the path of destruction and self-destruction. Hixson presents a vision of cooperative internationalism as the only alternative. This riveting book is a call to action.”
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, author of Not “A Nation of Immigrants,” Settler-Colonialism, White Supremacy, and a History of Erasure and Exclusion
“Imperialism and War is a provocative but necessary overview of the violence at the heart of centuries of American empire-building. Written by one of our most distinguished historians, it is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand why the twenty-first-century United States is constantly at war.”
Scott Laderman, Professor of History, University of Minnesota, Duluth.