Reviews for The Imperial Cruise: A Secret History of Empire and War

The average rating for The Imperial Cruise: A Secret History of Empire and War based on 2 reviews is 1.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-08-17 00:00:00 Lucas Dawson Two and a half stars rounded down. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor - its Teddy Roosevelt's fault. So it's not this Teddy featured in this book: But this one: If you want to bolster James Bradley's premise even more, according to him, it was the Aryan (read: white, Anglo-Saxon) destiny to subdue the locals (read: Native Americans, Hawaiians, Philippines, anyone who isn't white) and rule (read: slaughter/trick/manipulate) them because they aren't white and can't govern themselves. Plus, we'll get rich, because we're Aryans and let's go further and say it's God's will and no guilt. Teddy Roosevelt secretly (read: unconstitutionally) formed an alliance with the Japanese, and because the Japanese were smart enough to adapt Western ways rather quickly, they became (Bradley's term, not mine) honorary Aryans. Roosevelt encouraged Japan to see North Asia as Japan's own domain and gifted them with the convenient Monroe Doctrine East concept. "Hey Japan, feel free to exploit the natives, but remember it's an open door for your pal, America, so we can all get rich together. And because you've played the game so well in beating back the Slavs (see Russo-Japanese War) will give you Korea* as a parting gift." Japan, who felt cheated (no reparations in a deal brokered by Nobel Peace Prize winning, slick Teddy! ) and then angry, didn't stop just there and the rest is, well, history. The "cruise"? Roosevelt, who expertly crafted his own "Rough Rider" image, sent William Howard Taft (who would have loved Twinkies and thrilled by the concept of competitive eating for money and fame) and his daughter, Alice (the Paris Hilton/Kim Kardashian of her day) on cruise to Asia - Taft, to secretly negotiate with the Japanese and Alice to deflect the press with her "It girl" antics. They didn't do selfies back then, it was all done with etchings. The United States has done some despicable things in the name of "imperialism" and if this is what you want to read about, Bradley provides you with 330 overbearing odd pages of it. I learned a lot, but in the end felt incredibly manipulated and dirty. *

Review # 2 was written on 2010-10-21 00:00:00 Bryan Goodman Just came across this gem: "In 1844, America elected James Polk to the presidency. At the time of his election, the United States was a small country with states exclusively east of the Mississippi. The Louisiana Purchase territory was unorganized. Great Britain claimed the Oregon Territory in the Northwest, and Mexico held what would later be Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and California." Let us review all the errors in this paragraph. 1) The United States was never a small country. Even the original 13 states were larger than any European country save Russia, and by 1844 the United States was comparable in size to Western Europe. 2) There were three states west of the Mississippi in 1844 -- (most of) Louisiana (1812), Missouri (1821) and Arkansas (1836). Considering the Missouri compromise was one of the most important events in Antebellum politics, Bradley's ignorance on this score is astonishing. 3) If (2) didn't give it away, the "Louisiana Purchase territory" had been organized in part by 1844. 4) Mexico gave up possession of Texas in 1836. At the same time, he fails to mention Arizona, which Mexico did control. This is third grade civics. The fact that an actul published history book cold contain these mistakes is astonishing. EDIT: Another doozy -- Bradley says that Teddy Roosevelt's fellow politicians compared him to Oscar Wilde in the early 1880s. This is certainly true, but not in the way Bradley means -- this would be right around the time Wilde made his first appearance in the US, and he came across as quite the foppish dandy to many people. But Bradley thinks this means people perceived TR as a homosexual, which is entirely anachronistic as Wilde's sexual orientation remained secret until 1895. This is like someone finding an article from the 1950s that compares Ronald Reagan to Rock Hudson and concluding the author was suggesting Reagan was gay.