
The True Flag
Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire
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Narrated by:
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Robert Petkoff
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By:
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Stephen Kinzer
The best-selling author of Overthrow and The Brothers brings to life the forgotten political debate that set America's interventionist course in the world for the 20th century and beyond.
How should the United States act in the world? Americans cannot decide. Sometimes we burn with righteous anger, launching foreign wars and deposing governments. Then we retreat - until the cycle begins again.
No matter how often we debate this question, none of what we say is original. Every argument is a pale shadow of the first and greatest debate, which erupted more than a century ago. Its themes resurface every time Americans argue whether to intervene in a foreign country.
Revealing a piece of forgotten history in The True Flag, Stephen Kinzer transports us to the dawn of the 20th century, when the United States first found itself with the chance to dominate faraway lands. That prospect thrilled some Americans. It horrified others. Their debate gripped the nation.
The country's best-known political and intellectual leaders took sides. Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Cabot Lodge, and William Randolph Hearst pushed for imperial expansion; Mark Twain, Booker T. Washington, and Andrew Carnegie preached restraint. Only once before - in the period when the United States was founded - have so many brilliant Americans so eloquently debated a question so fraught with meaning for all humanity.
All Americans, regardless of political perspective, can take inspiration from the titans who faced off in this epic confrontation. Their words are amazingly current. Every argument over America's role in the world grows from this one. It all starts here. This program includes an introduction read by the author.
©2017 Stephen Kinzer (P)2017 Macmillan AudioListeners also enjoyed...




















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I would have put four stars down if not for the strident condemnation of imperialism by the author which clouds his objectivity which should be the hallmark of historical writing
War is bad
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An Eye Opener!
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Every American should read this book.
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Today's political atmosphere explained through History
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This book is both insightful and depressing in that it showcases how the same false premises are used time and again to justify military action as a means of economic growth.
Truly a book I'd want any member of Congress- and the citizens that vote for them- to read!
Required to understand today's political world!
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In the beginning it's thoughtful and detailed with the nuances of turn of the 20th century activity.
But at the end we got a very broad brush overview of the sins of our fathers that I've heard a million times.
If you want to write a book about each of those conflicts with the same depth as you did this book, please do, until then.. Cut that chapter.
Starts off like Mark Twain, ends like Roosevelt
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fitfully balanced needed more contrarian input fro
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The History of US Imperialism is long and bloody
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Great history Documentary
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A fascinating window into USA history
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