First Great Triumph: How Five Americans Made Their Country a World Power

This is a paperbound reprint of a 2002 book abourt which Book News wrote: Although many still deny that the United States can be characterized as an empire, Zimmerman (formerly of the U.S. Foreign Service) argues that America's period of imperial expansion began in 1898, when the United States gained military possession of the Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. He argues that five men John Hay, Captain Alfred T. Mahan, Elihu Root, Henry Cabot Lodge, and Theodore Roosevelt can be understood as the fathers of modern American imperialism. He separately profiles each of the men, exploring how their actions and preconceptions condition American empire then and now. Annotation 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)