How to Hide an Empire

Why it’s on the list: Immerwahr’s history of the United States told through the territory that never appears on the logo map — Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Guam, the guano islands — and what it means that an empire learned to run on bases and standards instead of colonies.

Where I heard about it

• Photographed in November 2019 (Books photo album)

• Spotted at Amazon Books at Washington Square, Tigard — November 2021 (Books photo album)

• Spotted at the Strand, New York — January 2023 (Books photo album)

• Spotted at The King’s English Bookshop, Salt Lake City — April 2024 (Books photo album)

• Spotted at Barnes & Noble at South Towne, Sandy — August 2024 (Books photo album)

• Spotted at Barnes & Noble at Fashion Place, Murray — November 2024 (Books photo album)

• Spotted at Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, Beaverton — December 2024 (Books photo album)

• Spotted at Elliott Bay Book Company, Seattle — June 2025 (Books photo album)

• Replies to @typesfast — named in the answers to his question “What’s the best history book you’ve read?” (the thread, June 2025). The full list of replies is on What’s the best history book… (tweet).

• nathan shuherk (@schizophrenicreads) — on his BookTok reading list on US empire, policing and disaster capitalism. Two separate crowds reaching for the same title in answer to different questions is the signal worth acting on.

Connections

• What’s the best history book… (tweet) — the thread this came out of; the full recovered list lives there.
• Geopolitics