Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq

Stephen Kinzer, Visiting Fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies Stephen Kinzer

Macmillan, Apr 4, 2006 - History - 384 pages

A fast-paced narrative history of the coups, revolutions, and invasions by which the United States has toppled fourteen foreign governments--not always to its own benefit
"Regime change" did not begin with the administration of George W. Bush, but has been an integral part of U.S. foreign policy for more than one hundred years. Starting with the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893 and continuing through the Spanish-American War and the Cold War and into our own time, the United States has not hesitated to overthrow governments that stood in the way of its political and economic goals. The invasion of Iraq in 2003 is the latest, though perhaps not the last, example of the dangers inherent in these operations.
In Overthrow, Stephen Kinzer tells the stories of the audacious politicians, spies, military commanders, and business executives who took it upon themselves to depose monarchs, presidents, and prime ministers. He also shows that the U.S. government has often pursued these operations without understanding the countries involved; as a result, many of them have had disastrous long-term consequences.
In a compelling and provocative history that takes readers to fourteen countries, including Cuba, Iran, South Vietnam, Chile, and Iraq, Kinzer surveys modern American history from a new and often surprising perspective.

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LibraryThing Review

User Review  - LibStre - LibraryThing

Stephen Kinzer's "Overthrow" sought to illustrate a trended pattern of regime changes driven by the United States government on foreign land. He detailed specific situations and defined the categories ...

OVERTHROW: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq

User Review  - Kirkus

Mossadegh, Diem, Arbenz, Allende, Liliuokalani, Kissinger: In this cheerless catalogue of villains and victims, New York Times correspondent Kinzer (All the Shah's Men, 2003, etc.) convincingly ...

Contents

• Introduction: 1
• THE IMPERIAL: 7
• A Hell of a Time Up at the Palace: 9
• Bound for GooGoo Land: 31
• From a Whorehouse to a White House: 56
• A Break in the History of the World: 78
• COVERT ACTION: 109
• Despotism and Godless Terrorism: 111
• Get Rid of This Stinker: 129
• Not the Preferred Way to Commit Suicide: 148
• Were Going to Smash Him: 170
• A Graveyard Smell: 195
• INVASIONS: 217
• Our Days of Weakness Are Over: 219
• Youre No Good: 239
• They Will Have Flies Walking Across Their Eyeballs: 260
• Thunder Run: 281
• Catastrophic Success: 300
• Notes: 323
• Bibliography: 345
• Acknowledgments: 365

About the author

Stephen Kinzer is the author of Reset, Overthrow, All the Shah's Men, Crescent and Star, and numerous other books. An award-winning foreign correspondent, he served as The New York Times's bureau chief in Turkey, Germany, and Nicaragua and as The Boston Globe's Latin America correspondent. He teaches international relations at Boston University and is a frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books and a columnist for The Guardian. He lives in Boston. Visit Stephen Kinzer's website at www.StephenKinzer.com.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq
• Authors: Stephen Kinzer, Visiting Fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies Stephen Kinzer
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Macmillan, 2006
• ISBN: 0805078614, 9780805078619
• Length: 384 pages
• Subjects: History / Military / United States; History / United States / General