Colonial Crucible: Empire in the Making of the Modern American State

Colonial Crucible: Empire in the Making of the Modern American State. Ed. by Alfred W. McCoy and Francisco A. Scarano. (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2009. xviii, 685 pp. Paper, $29.95, isbn 978-0-299-23104-0.)

Colonial Crucible is a landmark anthology originating from a set of seminars and conferences held ar the University of Wisconsin and the Internationa] Institute for Asian Studies in Leiden, Netherlands. It represents the culminating research of nearly fifty scholars from multiple continents committed to exploring the rise and growth of the "American imperial state" (p. 5). Dedicated to William Appleman Williams and the Wisconsin school of U.S. diplomatic history, rhe essays examine a wide range of "formal" and "informal" colonial practices shaped by diplomacy, war, politics, science, racism, education, culture, and law. Particularly noteworthy are the entries by Caribbean and Southeast Asia...