The True Flag

Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire

De: Stephen Kinzer

Narrado por: Robert Petkoff

The bestselling author of Overthrow and The Brothers brings to life the forgotten political debate that set America’s interventionist course in the world for the twentieth century and beyond.

How should the United States act in the world? Americans cannot decide. Sometimes we burn with righteous anger, launching foreign wars and deposing governments. Then we retreat—until the cycle begins again.

No matter how often we debate this question, none of what we say is original. Every argument is a pale shadow of the first and greatest debate, which erupted more than a century ago. Its themes resurface every time Americans argue whether to intervene in a foreign country.

Revealing a piece of forgotten history in The True Flag, Stephen Kinzer transports us to the dawn of the twentieth century, when the United States first found itself with the chance to dominate faraway lands. That prospect thrilled some Americans. It horrified others. Their debate gripped the nation.

The country’s best-known political and intellectual leaders took sides. Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Cabot Lodge, and William Randolph Hearst pushed for imperial expansion; Mark Twain, Booker T. Washington, and Andrew Carnegie preached restraint. Only once before—in the period when the United States was founded—have so many brilliant Americans so eloquently debated a question so fraught with meaning for all humanity.

All Americans, regardless of political perspective, can take inspiration from the titans who faced off in this epic confrontation. Their words are amazingly current. Every argument over America’s foreign policy and international role grows from this one. It all starts here.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Stephen Kinzer’s The True Flag is a marvelous and timely look at the rise of American imperialism at the turn of the twentieth century. All the big power players of the era – Theodore Roosevelt and Mark Twain among them – are analyzed cogently as intellectuals of great merit. An outstanding book!”
—Douglas Brinkley, author of Rightful Heritage: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Land of America and professor of history, Rice University

“Even in the pages of a novel, it would be impossible to find more extraordinary characters than Theodore Roosevelt and Mark Twain. That these two men locked horns over one of the most fundamental issues facing a young nation is a stunning turn of events, one that Stephen Kinzer, through meticulous research and masterful writing, has turned into a fascinating, fast-paced narrative.”
—Candice Millard, author of The River of Doubt, Destiny of the Republic, and Hero of the Empire

“At a moment when Americans are hotly debating their country’s role in the world, Stephen Kinzer takes us back to the origins of the modern debate. His account of the battle between imperialists and anti-imperialists at the end of the nineteenth century is riveting, uplifting, dismaying—and as timely as can be.”
—H. W. Brands, professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin and author of The General vs. the President: MacArthur and Truman at the Brink of Nuclear War

“In The True Flag, Stephen Kinzer gives us much more than the story of the birth of American dominion. He shows why we Americans were attracted to empire, how we have nurtured it to maturity, and what our choices are now. I thank him for helping me better understand how America acts in the world today.”
—James Bradley, author of Flags of Our Fathers, The Imperial Cruise, and The China Mirage

“Stephen Kinzer’s lively and incisive history takes us back more than a century to a fateful turning point: the moment when the United States first assumed the right to overthrow or build up regimes in distant parts of the globe. I hope American leaders will read this book, and think long and hard about the warning it sounds." —Adam Hochschild, author of Spain in Our Hearts and King Leopold’s Ghost

War is bad

This is an important book for a look at how we got to the military industrial complex that is the current state of US foreign policy. William McKinley's assassination muted his effect on this result along with Teddy Roosevelt's hyper masculine militarism which overshadowed McKinley. Roosevelt ironically became bored with imperialism and moved past it later in his Presidency though his advocacy of it propelled him to the Presidency initially and inspired Mckinley's assassination.
I would have put four stars down if not for the strident condemnation of imperialism by the author which clouds his objectivity which should be the hallmark of historical writing

An Eye Opener!

A well researched, well written and well narrated history of Spanish American War and beyond.

Every American should read this book.

I had never heard of some of these events that are covered in this book. Fascinating.

fitfully balanced needed more contrarian input fro

fitfully balanced needed more contrarian input from a few globalist or internationalist or someone not isolated at Brown.

The History of US Imperialism is long and bloody

My feelings about Theodore Roosevelt are mixed . I love his preservation of our history and environment, but I hate his racism. His role in establishing on imperial foreign policy are an additional black mark in my estimation.

Great history Documentary

Full of so many facts that we don't learn in school. I really enjoyed all information of how the politics of empire were debated and challenged.

Today's political atmosphere explained through History

When one takes a look at the beginnings of the policies that formed today's political climate, a greater understanding of our times can be achieved. Expansionism, Imperialism, or conquest beyond our current borders didn't just start with the latest Presidency. Looking at Teddy Roosevelt , the Spanish American War, the Philippine Insurrection, McKinley's assassination and other events of the period will help us see how America got where we are today.

Required to understand today's political world!

Kinzer lays out in detail the men and thinking that changed American foreign policy- and the world by consequence.
This book is both insightful and depressing in that it showcases how the same false premises are used time and again to justify military action as a means of economic growth.

Truly a book I'd want any member of Congress- and the citizens that vote for them- to read!

Starts off like Mark Twain, ends like Roosevelt

The book starts off amazingly, but ends with the same old browbeating.

In the beginning it's thoughtful and detailed with the nuances of turn of the 20th century activity.

But at the end we got a very broad brush overview of the sins of our fathers that I've heard a million times.

If you want to write a book about each of those conflicts with the same depth as you did this book, please do, until then.. Cut that chapter.

A fascinating window into USA history

I thought I was familiar with American history. But the great debate between imperialists and anti-imperialists at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, was largely unknown to me. The author provides a detailed and fascinating exploration of that debate. Narrowly lost by the anti-imperialists, the outcome of that debate has shaped our 20th century American experience and is important to understand. I commend the book without reservation.