by Bruce Cumings (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars 5 customer reviews
Print Length: 672 pages
Publisher: Yale University Press; 1 edition (November 17, 2009)
Publication Date: November 17, 2009
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Dominion from Sea to Sea is both original and so well researched that I am in awe of all the work and how all that information has been integrated."—Daniel Chirot, University of Washington(Daniel Chirot )
"In this sprawling and vastly interesting book, Bruce Cumings reorients American history from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Stressing America's expansionist thrusts and violent, unilateralist impulses, he illuminates how adventurers and entrepreneurs, state and federal governments, corporations and universities all collaborated to transform the West and revitalize America, especially after the Great Depression of the 1930s and the attack on Pearl Harbor. Rarely has a historian so evocatively and insightfully integrated the settlement of America's frontiers with the history of migration, technology, trade, agriculture, race, the environment, and foreign relations. Dominion from Sea to Sea reshapes and reorients our thinking about our nation's history; it is a book that must be read and discussed; it inspires pride and shame."—Melvyn P. Leffler, University of Virginia(Melvyn Leffler )
"In a rich and colorful narrative Cumings sweeps the reader westward across time and space, recounting U.S. history from the perspective of the Pacific, with special attention to California on one side and East Asia on the other. From Jurassic trenches to Silicon Valley, he links the westering of people, technology, capitalism, and lifestyles to both domestic and foreign policy and concludes that whatever has happened to California (and hence to the country), America remains ascendant, even if it doesn't always know how to go about its global leadership. Agree or disagree, the story is irresistible."—Carol Gluck, Columbia University(Carol Gluck )
"In this fascinating book, Bruce Cumings, whose scholarly work has focused on East Asia, shows that he can be just as adept and exciting in writing American history. Actually, it is a 'Pacificist' version of U.S. history. He shows that 'the American story' can never be fully told unless the Western parts of the United States as well as the Pacific region are incorporated.
Describing in colorful detail developments in the Western states, including Texas, as well as the countries of East Asia, the author argues that these developments have been inseparable from the story of U.S. 'dominion from sea to sea,' or its overwhelming military presence in 'the global archipelago.' The book fits into an emerging scholarly trend, to transcend narrowly focused national narratives and to deal with larger entities and in large frameworks such as Atlantic history, Europeanization, South Asian cosmopolitanism that have already enriched our understanding of modern global history. Few historians are as capable as Cumings of launching the field of Pacific history, and readers will find in this imaginatively conceived and earnestly but also humorously presented history much that will help them understand how the United States became globalized domestically and internationally, and what the future holds both for the nation and for the world."—Akira Iriye, Harvard University(Akira Iriye )
"This is nevertheless one of the richest and most thoughtful books of American history I have read in a long time. . . . Cumings’s book is both a timely and splendidly enjoyable read."—Dominic Sandbrook, Literary Review
(Dominic Sandbrook Literary Review )
“The story of America’s rapid unrolling of the exceptionalist carpet is very well told by Mr. Cumings. . . .[He] writes marvelously. . . .A lively rattlebag of a history of the Pacific slope and how the Pacific Ocean came to be an American Lake.”--Economist
(Economist )
"Bruce Cumings, in this beautifully written book . . . presents consistently stunning analysis of a mountain of dascinating data."—James I. Matray, American Historical Review(James I. Matray American Historical Review )
About the Author
Bruce Cumings is chair of the History Department at the University of Chicago and author of the award-winning book The Origins of the Korean War.
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Top customer reviews
M. Swanson
5.0 out of 5 starsA Great BookJanuary 25, 2011
Format: Paperback|Verified Purchase
This is a great book. 10 years ago I was a graduate history student and found his second volume of his Origins of the Korean War series one of the best explanations and overviews of US foreign relations in the period after World War II and start of the Cold War. The book had a big impact on my thinking along with Carrol Quigley, Franz Schurman, and Charles Beard.
When I saw Cumings had a new book about the US and its in place in the world I was excited when I ordered it and the book exceeded my expectations. This book is written to fit more of a non-academic and mainstream audience than some of his other books so hopefully will reach a wide audience. It gives a great view of how the US got to be so big and powerful by focusing on the West Coast of the US from its first settlement to today and the several booms if went through - the gold rush, World War II, cold war military industrial complex, and the Silicon Valley. It also present a new way of thinking about foreign policy by creating a dichotomy between Atlanatic leaning internationalism and westward leaning thinking.
There is much more to the book than just this. This is a great book worth your time to read.
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Jim Phelan
4.0 out of 5 starsUSA HegemonyApril 20, 2011
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This is a big-picture book. How did the USA make its way to economic, military and cultural global hegemony?
Bruce Comings describes the westward expansion of the United States and how it didn't stop at the Golden Gate, but continued on out into the Pacific Rim. He stresses the active involvement of the Federal government in the growth of California and other western states. The future of USA prosperity and global influence can be glimpsed by looking westward towards the Pacific Rim and eastward not towards Europe.
Based on a decade of historical research, here are 500 pages filled with interesting facts and solid interpretations of US history; this book is well worth reading!
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Biz Reader
5.0 out of 5 stars
Compelling look at the connections of civilizationJune 26, 2012
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I read this book first when it was released in 2010 and have come back to it time and time again since. I am re-reading it again, as I prepare to take my family on a 10-day trip to California.
The ability of Cumings to make connections across continents and describe how the American West facilitates human integration is remarkable.
I am awed by this book and would recommend anyone interested in global affairs to put it on their shelf and refer to it often.
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hudunit333
3.0 out of 5 stars
First the good (actually excellent)July 28, 2014
Format: Hardcover|Verified Purchase
I want to give this book 5 stars and 1 star for different reasons. First the good (actually excellent): I really enjoyed learning about the history and development of California and the other western states and the hypothesis that Prof. Cumings develops throughout the book about a western facing future. It's jam packed with very intersting facts and personalities.
But from the beginning it seemed to me to be heavily, maybe overly, belabored with the issue of racism. OK, we all know about the treatment of Chinese and Japanese on the west coast and racism everywhere in America until the last several decades so that is absolutely part of the story . But then I got to the 1970's and 1980's (the part that I lived through as an adult and am familiar with) and it goes on to state that Nixon and Reagan were backed by money from the same bigoted old money and appealed to those holding the same old throwback beliefs. Now I don't know if any of the financial supporters are/were bigots or not, but I do know that that's not how they won elections.
I love to read history but I try to stay away from books where the author lets his politics get in the way of telling an accurate story. That's not history, It's propaganda. I will hold my nose and finish the book with hope, but I will now have to wonder if and how much of the story that I'm not familiar with was similarly tainted. And how is this interpreted by someone who is in their twenties and who doesn't have first hand knowledge. Also Prof Cumings states that Reagan and others weren't honest about there limited government stance because they supported a strong military and increased military spending and totally ignores the massive growth in government social spending since the 1960's. This is not a balanced view.
I don't like to make political comments on a history book but if the author is going to color history with his politics it's fair game. It's a real shame as there must have been a lot of work put into an otherwise excellent book. Just beware.
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Iahc
Aug 21, 2010Iahc rated it really liked it
This is a dense history of the American West, although the author focuses mostly on California and Texas, with less space devoted to Oregon and Washington. I originally thought this book was going to be about the rise of Pacific Rim nations vis-a-vis America based on the title, so the emphasis on America was a surprise.
That being said, the book is a fascinating portrait of how these four Western states and their key industries developed. I did not know of the importance that the defense industry and government spending on defense contracts played in the development of Silicon Valley and its companies until I read this book. That is but one of the fascinating revelations.
The writing can be hard to follow at times; there are frequent references to movies, especially "Chinatown," which is an apparent favorite of the author. If you like the movie, then perhaps its oft-repeated references will delight you. If you don't, the dread at encountering yet another "Chinatown" movie reference can be palpable.
The author does not write about all of the Western states equally, as I mentioned, and even in his portrait of California, there were more pages devoted to Los Angeles, which seems to hold a special place in the author's heart, than other parts of the state. The book thus seems to be a deeply personal endeavor for Bruce Cumings and at times his choices can seem quirky as opposed to essential.
I did not share his enthusiasm for all of his topics, but I did find the book revelatory on many fronts. Cumings ultimately argues that America's "Atlantic" perspective--that is, its tendency culturally and politically to look toward the U.K. and Europe from the vantage point of the East Coast--is passé, hence his emphasis on "Pacific Ascendancy." In this sense, Cumings is persuasive. I do think America's West Coast and Pacific perspective will be increasingly important in the 21st century. (less)
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Sarah Milne
Apr 12, 2010Sarah Milne rated it liked it
On page 419 Cumings writes: “The archipelago of empire has its domestic expression not just in Southern California, but throughout the west.” That's believable, and he makes a good case for it, but he so strongly favors California as the all-consuming expression of that empire that I started to feel the book should have been called "Californian Ascendancy and American Power." The second to last chapter, dealing with Californian based technologies, was like wading through one of Dantes' levels of hell. If I were not so obsessive I would have skipped it and moved on to the much more informative and purposive final chapter. Still, I think this is an especially pertinent and timely book, and I strongly agree with the proposition that it is time to steer away from the Atlanticist (sp?) view and give due consideration to Pacific contributions and developments. That thesis is the only reason it gets three stars, because that dang tech chapter about killed me. (less)
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RYU Cheol
Nov 17, 2013RYU Cheol rated it it was amazing
Shelves: bruce-cumings
Reading the finishing part of this book, I realized that this book is on China or East Asia rather than California. He seems to be pretty sure that there would not be a war between China and US. Because China had been very cautious on the conflicts, as it had been in Korea and Vietnam. He came out with a conclusion that Chinese think they could not defeat the others with military force but the power of the culture. He complains Americans do not care what are happening in Pacific area, which is his toy, but just care for the Atlantic parties which had lost prime times. He is saying to Americans there will not be an ultimate war between G2 and urges them to relieve the tension in East Asia. But I don't know Koreans would be happy or not with the suggestion. Still Koreas are in the war and the south likes to rely on the big brother who protected him. (less)
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