How to Hide an Empire

Not only informative but beautifully written, too, with gorgeous sentences and lively spirit and tension and clear-eyed compassion and the slightest touch of sardonic humor. Impeccably researched and ingeniously organized. REALLY ingenious: Immerwahr repeatedly takes the reader on what seems like puzzling tangents, and each time ties those tangents into the main theme in alarming and sometimes disturbing ways. It's almost like a legal thriller.

I was born in a U.S. colony and spent almost my entire youth there. A close friend is a legal scholar with several publications on territorial law. I thought I was well informed on U.S. colonialism and empire... oh, I had no idea. I learned soooo much from this book, not just about colonialism but about technology, culture, standards, music, health. This is a masterpiece, I can't recommend it enough, and it breaks my heart that all my friends are going to see the title and think, eh, sounds dry.