In Colossus, Niall Ferguson brings his renowned historical and economic depth of field to bear on a bold and sweeping reckoning with America's imperial status and its consequences. He argues that in both military and economic terms America is nothing less than the most powerful empire the world has ever seen. [Penguin Press]
Critic Reviews
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Favorable
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Kirkus Reviews
Discomfiting, highly provocative reading, with ammunition for pro and con alike.
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Favorable
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Library Journal Marcia L. Sprules
Though this book is well argued, its comparisons will make many readers uncomfortable. [15 Apr 2004, p.104]
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Favorable
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New York Review Of Books Paul Kennedy
His book is often light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek, studded with jokes (some of them very bad, as in his reflections on American obesity). But his overall message is serious, and more bitter than sweet.
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Favorable
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Salon Ted Widmer
Ferguson recommits the essential blunder of the British Empire: He fails to consider whether the world's peoples want to join this new order, even if it is clear to him that they would benefit from it.
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Favorable
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The Economist
Mr Ferguson's positive view of American motivations and character are not, therefore, likely to convince many sceptics. Such folk will be more pleased, though, by his pessimism about whether modern America has the will to make imperial interventions work.
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Favorable
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The Globe And Mail [Toronto]
Ferguson, a leading and sometimes controversial young British historian, argues counter-intuitively that the United States is most certainly an empire, and ought to take its imperial duties more seriously.
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Favorable
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The Nation Ronald Steel
He rightly observes that the American nation was no sooner founded than its leaders embarked on an energetic program of expansion.
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Mixed
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Booklist Brendan Driscoll
This is a conservative argument, smacking gently of The Economist editorial page, but it is far from optimistic. [1 Mar 2004, p.1115]
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Mixed
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Wall Street Journal Daniel W. Drezner
The trouble with this analysis is that nationalism is a much more powerful force now than it was during the heyday of the Victorian era -- even in areas with a brief history of statehood -- and subduing restive provinces would persistently drain America's resources and reputation.
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Mixed
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The Guardian Ed Vulliamy
Yet there are serious attention deficits in Ferguson's book, which are to do with power and self-interest in this 'liberal empire'.
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Mixed
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The Guardian Martin Jacques
If Ferguson loses his sense of reality in dreaming of empire, he recovers it towards the end of the book. There is a good and balanced discussion of the prospects for the European Union and an even better analysis of the economic problems that confront the US.
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Mixed
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Publishers Weekly
The erudite and often statistical argument has occasional flashes of wit and may compel liberals to rethink their opposition to intervention.
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Unfavorable
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The New York Times Book Review John Lewis Gaddis
There are, along with these contradictions, curious digressions -- box office receipts for movies about Vietnam, for example, or statistics on American obesity -- the relevance of which is unclear. And there are errors.
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