
William Walker's Wars
How One Man's Private American Army Tried to Conquer Mexico, Nicaragua, and Honduras
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.00 for first 30 days
Buy for $21.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
David Colacci
-
By:
-
Scott Martelle
In the decade before the onset of the Civil War, groups of Americans engaged in a series of longshot - and illegal - forays into Mexico, Cuba, and other Central American countries in hopes of taking them over. These efforts became known as filibustering, and their goal was to seize territory to create new independent fiefdoms, which would ultimately be annexed by the still-growing United States. Most failed miserably.
William Walker was the outlier. Short, slender, and soft-spoken with no military background - he trained as a doctor before becoming a lawyer and then a newspaper editor - Walker was an unlikely leader of rough-hewn men and adventurers. But in 1856 he managed to install himself as president of Nicaragua. Neighboring governments saw Walker as a risk to the region and worked together to drive him out - efforts aided, incongruously, by the United States' original tycoon, Cornelius Vanderbilt.
William Walker's Wars is a story of greedy dreams and ambitions, the fate of nations and personal fortunes, and the dark side of Manifest Destiny, for among Walker's many goals was to build his own empire based on slavery. This little-remembered story from US history is a cautionary tale for all who dream of empire.
©2019 Scott Martelle (P)2019 TantorListeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
"Scott Martelle's page-turning account draws on thorough research to tell the story of William Walker as it has never been told before." (T.J. Stiles, author of The First Tycoon)
People who viewed this also viewed...

The book is nicely researched, and tries to explain the virtually inexplicable; what makes a slightly built, stuffy, and scholarly guy suddenly decide to become Emperor of an as of yet unformed South American union of nations? The battles and skirmishes, as well as the geography and river systems of the campaign are well explained, and the main players are characterized from their letters and historical accounts.
Something hinted toward, but not greatly explored is whether or not Walker was truly acting on his own, out of self aggrandizing adventure, or whether some Mephistophelian society like the Knights of the Golden Circle or something similar were whispering in his ear prompting these wild takeover attempts?
Overall a great read, about a truly intriguing, but not very good guy.
The Little Tyrant That Could!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Fascinating
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Also the last part of the book seems to remember to show Walker has having thoughts and feelings beyond being just a soldier, which were racist thoughts. But this book is good on Walker’s war and a good scope of his life and events beyond a Wikipedia entry
The full story of William Walker and his insurgent wars
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Fascinating neglected American History
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
overconfidence in human form
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The book is well written and researched. Much of the book deals with Walker’s various wars and escapades in Central America and Mexico. I had come across Walker in other books I have read such as the biography of Cornelius Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt’s shipping company had continuous problems with Walker. The book read more like a novel than a non-fiction. Martelle’s writing style made history most exciting. If you would like to learn a bit of Central American history, this book would be an interesting read.
The book is twelve hours and seven minutes. David Colacci does a great job reading the book. Colacci is an award-winning audiobook narrator and one of my favorite narrators.
Riveting
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The story is read in a measured tone at a comfortable pace, but I kept rewinding because I kept saying to myself, “he did what, now?” It’s truly unbelievable how much of a role luck played in his survival and successes.
Stranger than Fiction
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
William Walker
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Not sure what I thought this book was!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.