Synopses & Reviews
Basketball has a lock on the Filipino soul. From big arenas in Manila to makeshift hoops in small villages, basketball is played by Filipinos of all walks of life and is used to mark everything from summer breaks for students to religious festivals and many other occasions.
Playing with the Big Boys traces the social history of basketball in the Philippines from an educational and and#8220;civilizingand#8221; tool in the early twentieth century to its status as national pastime since the country gained independence after World War II.
and#160;While the phrase and#8220;playing with the big boysand#8221; describes the challenge of playing basketball against outsized opponents, it also describes the struggle for recognition that the Philippines, as a subaltern society, has had to contend with in its larger transnational relationships as a former U.S. colony.
and#160;Lou Antolihao goes beyond the empire-colony dichotomy by covering Filipino basketball in a wider range of comparisons, such as that involving the growing influence of Asia in its region, particularly China and Japan. In this context, Antolihao shows how Philippines basketball has moved from a vehicle for Americanization to a force for globalization in which the United States, while still a key player, is challenged by other basketball-playing countries.
Review
"Hunt and Levine make an invaluable contribution to the ongoing debate regarding America as an empire. With lively prose and attention to the humanity of those involved in these conflicts, they have written a marvelously ambitious book that remains accessible and gripping. This is a gem of a study."--Robert J. McMahon, The Ohio State University
Review
"This book is written with the support of the intellectual vision and accumulated knowledge of two of the world's most prominent scholars on the history of U.S.-East Asian relations. It provides an original, thoughtful, well-documented and readable 'grand narrative' about how America's empire-building drive in East Asia became connected with the wars in the Philippines, against Japan, in Korea and, then, Vietnam. The depth of the authors' analysis is greatly enhanced as they give keen attention to East Asia's diverse 'local' settings and conditions. Vividly and convincingly highlighted are the strengths and limits of 'American power' even when the United States was ascending to the zenith of its global dominance. Today, at the time that America's leadership role in the world is facing serious challenges, this is a study that neither specialists nor general readers can afford to ignore."--Chen Jian, Cornell University
Review
"[This] book should be illuminating and instructive to all who are concerned about U.S. overseas military involvement and its domestic and international ramifications."
-H-Empire Reviews
Review
"Whether you are prone to agree or take issue with this book's controversial premise and conclusions, it is well worth reading."
-Missoulian
Review
"Required reading for advanced students of modern US history, and therefore a necessary purchase for all academic libraries. Essential. Upper-division undergraduates and above."
-Choice
Review
"A crisp, lively narrative sure to interest scholars in the field, their students, and the general public."
-Journal of American History
Review
"Recommended for readers interested in current events and 20th-century history, especially military history and U.S.-Asia relations."
-Library Journal
Review
"A powerful analysis of the American wars in eastern Asia that span the twentieth century."
-International Affairs
Review
"A tremendously important book . . . . It is imperative for all scholars of foreign relations, especially of U.S. foreign relations, to read
Arc of Empire."
-Reviews in American History
Review
"Hunt and Levine's book is important . . . to anyone who deals with the history of American foreign policy."
-H-War
Review
"A valuable book that merits careful reading. . . . Will encourage readers to take a fresh look at wars usually treated in isolation."
-Army History
Review
"[Hunt and Levine] incorporate important information about "the other side," discuss the devastating impact military actions had on civilians, are not hesitant to reveal atrocious behavior, and examine how imperial rule worked out in practice. Popular culture references enliven the account."
-American Historical Review
Review
"A book every historian of American foreign policy will want to read, recommend, and use."
-Pacific Historical Review
Review
"
Arc of Empire's propositions and conclusions are eloquently stated and for the most part, it seems to me, true. . . . [It] will add to the knowledge of older readers and enlighten younger ones."
-The New York Review of Books
Review
"Goes beyond a recounting of the historical events of these conflicts to tie them together in one long historical arc."
-On Point
Review
"A work of synthesis on a scale seldom attempted before. . . . A bold step away from the prevailing trend toward highly specialized narrow monographs toward a debate on the larger significance of the eight decades of conflict which characterized U.S. relations with Asia in the twentieth century."
-Journal of Military History
Review
and#8220;Attentive to the ways in which so many aspects of political and national discourse intersect with the game of basketball. Any historians working on Philippine history or the history of sport and colonialism would be well served by reading this work.and#8221;and#8212;Andrew D. Morris, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Synopsis
Although conventionally treated as separate, America's four wars in Asia were actually phases in a sustained U.S. bid for regional dominance, according to Michael H. Hunt and Steven I. Levine. This effort unfolded as an imperial project in which military power and the imposition of America's political will were crucial. Devoting equal attention to Asian and American perspectives, the authors follow the long arc of conflict across seventy-five years from the Philippines through Japan and Korea to Vietnam, tracing along the way American ambition, ascendance, and ultimate defeat. They show how these wars are etched deeply in eastern Asia's politics and culture.
The authors encourage readers to confront the imperial pattern in U.S. history with implications for today's Middle Eastern conflicts. They also offer a deeper understanding of China's rise and Asia's place in today's world.
About the Author
Michael H. Hunt is Emerson Professor of History Emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and author or editor of eleven books, including The American Ascendancy: How the United States Gained and Wielded Global Dominance and A Vietnam War Reader: A Documentary History from American and Vietnamese Perspectives. Steven I. Levine is research faculty associate in the Department of History at the University of Montana and author or editor of four books, including Anvil of Victory: The Communist Revolution in Manchuria, 1945-1948 and America's Wars in Asia: A Cultural Approach to History and Memory.