19th Century America’s Forgotten Wars

The History and Legacy of the Overseas Conflicts That Influenced American Imperialism

By: Charles River Editors

Narrated by: Scott Clem

By the second half of the 19th century, still less than a century old, the United States had become a regional power. It had soundly defeated its southern neighbor, Mexico, and greatly enlarged itself in the process. America’s navy and merchant marines were becoming common sights on the high seas, and the country was at the beginning of the end of its drawn-out conquest of the Native Americans. However, it was a country divided deeply along political and economic lines, a tottering edifice many predicted would split apart. Even before the final tremors from the Mexican-American War had stopped disrupting the southern border, the United States found itself in a bloody civil war.

For a time, all foreign adventure ceased, but within three decades, US military personnel found themselves in accidental conflict with an isolationist Asian nation, getting drawn into a tribal fight over kingship on a remote set of islands, and inheriting a former empire’s long-running foreign insurgency, an insurgency that eerily foreshadowed America’s most divisive war of the 20th century. These were wars that, while less remembered than the conflicts with Mexico and Spain, nevertheless helped shape foreign policy and prepared the nation to face greater global responsibilities and challenges in the 20th century.

©2020 Charles River Editors (P)2020 Charles River Editors

Short

I've tried several of these Reader's Digest type short histories. I thought, hey, they're inexpensive, and I'm not interested in a 20 hour book on this subject.

But none of them are really any good, and they are still too expensive for what they are. They don't supply enough of a story to make me care, and it becomes lists of dates, names, and events. It's like having someone read you a Wikipedia entry. It's just unsatisfying, and I don't see myself buying more.