How to Hide an Empire

 How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States by Daniel Immerwahr, 513 pages.

In this book Immerwahr goes beyond the popular image of the United States (which is to say, the continental United States), and instead looks at the US's history with colonialism, examining its colonies, territories, and the many possessions that existed in a legal grey area for decades. Immerwahr's lens helps to reframe the history of the United States, demonstrating how there have been parts of the US that existed outside the bounds of statehood practically from the very beginning. Despite being someone who generally considers myself relatively well-informed about history, there was a whole lot in this book I had never heard of, including most of the colonial history of the Philippines and the existence of the guano islands. I was also surprised to learn that anti-colonialism was more frequently a stance taken by racists than anyone else and that the invention of plastic is one of history's greatest anti-colonial forces. 

The only thing that stops me from recommending this book wholeheartedly is that it feels like it loses a lot of focus in the second half. Immerwahr spends an outsized amount of time discussing topics that are only tangentially related to territorial history, such as the angle of screw threads and other manufacturing standards. That being said, I do still think that this is a very worthwhile book, and definitely worth a read for people who want to be more informed of an oft-neglected aspect of our national history.