The Imperial Cruise: Book summary and reviews of The Imperial Cruise by James Bradley

The Imperial Cruise Summary

In 1905 President Teddy Roosevelt dispatched Secretary of War William Howard Taft on the largest U.S. diplomatic mission in history to Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, China, and Korea. Roosevelt's glamorous twenty-one year old daughter Alice served as mistress of the cruise, which included senators and congressmen. On this trip, Taft concluded secret agreements in Roosevelt's name.

In 2005, a century later, James Bradley traveled in the wake of Roosevelt's mission and discovered what had transpired in Honolulu, Tokyo, Manila, Beijing and Seoul.

In 1905, Roosevelt was bully-confident and made secret agreements that he though would secure America's westward push into the Pacific. Instead, he lit the long fuse on the Asian firecrackers that would singe America's hands for a century.

The Imperial Cruise Reviews

"[A] stridently disapproving study of early 20th-century U.S. policy in Asia... Ironically, his view of Asian history, like Roosevelt’s, denies agency to the Asians themselves." - Publishers Weekly

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The Imperial Cruise Reader Reviews

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Rated of 5 by Wayne Violette
Why the hate?
This book has a lot of facts in it but the anger of the author toward the United States and his guilt for being white overshadows everything else.

Rated of 5 by Grandpa Timbo
Racism As A Root Cause Of WW2
This is a very well written book which displays the author's deep knowledge and understanding of our history as well as the mindset prevalent in turn of the century America (1880 - 1915). A fascinating read that moves right along and any serious student of US history would be well advised to read it.

Rated of 5 by Andrew
The Imperial Cruise
Your biased opinion about America and its past is obviously from a real hate of America, your way of branding us as Aryans and murders akin to the Nazi is beyond the pale. Why do you hate America so?? Your sources are vague at best and you have drawn your own conclusions based on your political bias. Don't waste good time and money on this book unless you are out of toilet paper.

James Bradley Author Biography

James Bradley is the fourth child of flagraiser John "Doc" Bradley. Raised in Wisconsin, Bradley studied at the University of Notre Dame, Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan and graduated with a degree in East Asian History from the University of Wisconsin. Bradley has vast experience writing and producing corporate films and corporate meetings; he has traveled the world, living and working in more than 40 countries for nearly a decade. Bradley has run companies in the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy. He has jumped out of airplanes at 15,000 feet, has scuba-dove in deep waters worldwide, trekked to Mount Everest's base camp and walked among lions in Africa. He is an avid reader of history, enjoys discovering exotic cuisine, cliff diving, golfing...

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