Gangsters of Capitalism: Smedley Butler, the Marines, and the Making and Breaking of America's Empire
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- Create Date：2022-01-03 00:19:37
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Jonathan M. Katz
- ISBN：1250135583
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Summary
A groundbreaking journey tracing America’s forgotten path to global power—and how its legacies shape our world today—told through the extraordinary life of a complicated Marine。
Smedley Butler was the most celebrated warfighter of his time。 Bestselling books were written about him。 Hollywood adored him。 Wherever the flag went， “The Fighting Quaker” went—serving in nearly every major overseas conflict from the Spanish War of 1898 until the eve of World War II。 From his first days as a 16-year-old recruit at the newly seized Guantánamo Bay， he blazed a path for empire: helping annex the Philippines and the land for the Panama Canal， leading troops in China （twice）， and helping invade and occupy Nicaragua， Puerto Rico， Haiti， Mexico， and more。 Yet in retirement， Butler turned into a warrior against war， imperialism， and big business， declaring: “I was a racketeer for capitalism。"
Award-winning author Jonathan Myerson Katz traveled across the world—from China to Guantánamo， the mountains of Haiti to the Panama Canal—and pored over the personal letters of Butler， his fellow Marines， and his Quaker family on Philadelphia's Main Line。 Along the way， Katz shows how the consequences of the Marines' actions are still very much alive: talking politics with a Sandinista commander in Nicaragua， getting a martial arts lesson from a devotee of the Boxer Rebellion in China， and getting cast as a P。O。W。 extra in a Filipino movie about their American War。 Tracing a path from the first wave of U。S。 overseas expansionism to the rise of fascism in the 1930s to the crises of democracy in our own time， Gangsters of Capitalism tells an urgent story about a formative era most Americans have never learned about， but that the rest of the world cannot forget。
Smedley Butler was the most celebrated warfighter of his time。 Bestselling books were written about him。 Hollywood adored him。 Wherever the flag went， “The Fighting Quaker” went—serving in nearly every major overseas conflict from the Spanish War of 1898 until the eve of World War II。 From his first days as a 16-year-old recruit at the newly seized Guantánamo Bay， he blazed a path for empire: helping annex the Philippines and the land for the Panama Canal， leading troops in China （twice）， and helping invade and occupy Nicaragua， Puerto Rico， Haiti， Mexico， and more。 Yet in retirement， Butler turned into a warrior against war， imperialism， and big business， declaring: “I was a racketeer for capitalism。"
Award-winning author Jonathan Myerson Katz traveled across the world—from China to Guantánamo， the mountains of Haiti to the Panama Canal—and pored over the personal letters of Butler， his fellow Marines， and his Quaker family on Philadelphia's Main Line。 Along the way， Katz shows how the consequences of the Marines' actions are still very much alive: talking politics with a Sandinista commander in Nicaragua， getting a martial arts lesson from a devotee of the Boxer Rebellion in China， and getting cast as a P。O。W。 extra in a Filipino movie about their American War。 Tracing a path from the first wave of U。S。 overseas expansionism to the rise of fascism in the 1930s to the crises of democracy in our own time， Gangsters of Capitalism tells an urgent story about a formative era most Americans have never learned about， but that the rest of the world cannot forget。
Reviews
Paula
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Review Rollingstone。com 1Jan 2022
Ginette
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I was excited to have won an Advance Reader Copy of this book。 While living in North America now， I grew up in Europe where my schooling took place。 I loved the opportunity to learn more about US history， outside of its borders， through following the career of Smedley Butler from the late 1800's to the start of WWII。 The book is meticulously researched and makes for easy reading in spite of the idea that， perhaps such content may be somewhat dry。 At times， I had to remind myself I was not readin I was excited to have won an Advance Reader Copy of this book。 While living in North America now， I grew up in Europe where my schooling took place。 I loved the opportunity to learn more about US history， outside of its borders， through following the career of Smedley Butler from the late 1800's to the start of WWII。 The book is meticulously researched and makes for easy reading in spite of the idea that， perhaps such content may be somewhat dry。 At times， I had to remind myself I was not reading fiction with a fast paced story taking me to different places in the world， but rather facts of history。 Very small point: I would have loved for the book to have included an illustrated map of the time， showing the places of US military action （just me being a lover of maps）。 The author's emotion in its telling comes through in many instances。 Looking through the lens of today's values， there is no denying the racism， violence and greed of those times， with （a lot） more progress to be made in today's world。 Smedley， likewise， decided war and greed are not the answer and spoke out against it in later years。 The author reflects in the epilogue: who knows what comes next will be better or worse。 Let's hope for the better。 。。。more
Randal White
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I was very surprised by this book。 I thought that I was quite well read in the history of American foreign policy， but thanks to this book， I now realize that I was subjected to quite a biased education of it。 You know， the "you-rah-rah" America that we were all taught in school。 How the U。S。 was a force of good， bringing freedom to those places that needed it。 Katz opened my eyes to a different perspective。 That of the U。S。 as an imperialistic force， out to further the advances of big businesse I was very surprised by this book。 I thought that I was quite well read in the history of American foreign policy， but thanks to this book， I now realize that I was subjected to quite a biased education of it。 You know， the "you-rah-rah" America that we were all taught in school。 How the U。S。 was a force of good， bringing freedom to those places that needed it。 Katz opened my eyes to a different perspective。 That of the U。S。 as an imperialistic force， out to further the advances of big businesses and the rich。 He does this through the eyes of a famous U。S。 Marine， Smedley Butler。 Raised as a Quaker， he somehow finds himself enlisted in the Marine Corps。 And on to his adventures！ Beginning as a tough， literally take no prisoners hellhound， he is sent to the Philippines， Cuba， Nicaragua， Haiti， China， and Panama。 As he "grows"， he discovers that the reasons are not just to promote the freedom-loving ways of the U。S。， but to benefit the rich。 He grows more and more disillusioned to the fighting and killing。 Finally retiring， he finds himself being recruited into a plot to overthrow the Federal Government。 To which， to his great credit， he exposes。 On a personal level， I really enjoyed the sections on China。 My grandfather was in the Navy there at the same time， and now I think I have a feeling about what we went through， and why he would never talk about it。 Also， regarding the ending， with the plot to overthrow the government; I could not help but draw parallels with the machinations of the Trump administration after the 2020 election （and continuing to today）。 This is a long， and sometimes tiring book。 But it is never boring。 I really think that if you read it， you will come away with a much greater sense of our place in history。 And why we have some of the problems we have today。 And why some nations do not trust us。 Very educational！ 。。。more
Ron Frampton
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Tracing AMERICA'S path to global power and how it shaped our world today。 Tracing AMERICA'S path to global power and how it shaped our world today。 。。。more
Sean
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I received an advance copy of this book through a goodreads giveaway。 The book was excellent and I highly recommend it for anyone who wants a concise history of US interventionism and the covering up of inconvenient information。 It is very well-researched， with sources for almost every claim， including some interesting historical asides in the footnotes。 My only critique ends up also being the book's greatest asset; that Katz sometimes takes liberty with the description of action in certain poin I received an advance copy of this book through a goodreads giveaway。 The book was excellent and I highly recommend it for anyone who wants a concise history of US interventionism and the covering up of inconvenient information。 It is very well-researched， with sources for almost every claim， including some interesting historical asides in the footnotes。 My only critique ends up also being the book's greatest asset; that Katz sometimes takes liberty with the description of action in certain points of Butler's life， making scenes from the past come to life， but in some cases the description of the action isn't cited from one of Butler'sletters， it's not clear how much is historical and how much is embellishment describing how a scene might have occurred。 With the narrative and reportage style of writing （similar to some books by Erik Larson， but not as dry）， the book is an excellent introduction to the rise of the American empire and how the world has been influenced by it。 I especially liked the fact that Katz switches between a view of the past through Butler's eyes （often as the leader of an invading force）， and then his own experience in those countries years later while doing research for this book。 Seeing how other countries remember and continue to remember the US invasions is a powerful reminder that these events are not over and done with as many Americans would like to think。 As well as the fact that he relied as much （if not more） on historians from the countries Butler traveled to as historians from the US to tell the story。The book is as much about American interventionism as it is a critical review about how the US （and other countries） teaches history and how that teaching can define common enemies while completely erasing others for the benefit of the wealthiest and most influential leaders。 。。。more
William Harris
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