"Still, if there is one thing the history of the Greater United States tells us, it’s that such territory matters. And not only for the people who live in colonies or near bases. It matters for the whole country. World War II began, for the United States, in the territories. The war on terror started with a military base. The birth control pill, chemotherapy, plastic, Godzilla, the Beatles, Little House on the Prairie, Iran-Contra, the transistor radio, the name America itself—you can’t understand the histories of any of these without understanding territorial empire."

This was a fascinating history lesson that filled in some major gaps in my U.S. History knowledge. Of course there are many known and unknown supervillains discussed in this work on how the empire came to be and continues today, but this book's focus continued to come back to why are US citizens so ignorant of the US colonialism? It was a friend willing to give you the how, but continuously scolding you for not caring about the why until now. I enjoyed the tone and voice which helped it not be as dry as a textbook, but it still had moments where even the personality couldn't save it from sounding like a dispassionate lecture. Overall though, I enjoyed the learning and know I will keep bringing up these facts every chance I get!