EMPIRES APART. America and Russia, from Vikings to Iraq. A book by Brian Landers

Winner of THE PEOPLES BOOK PRIZE July 2009

The Book

The American road to Baghdad started when the first English settlers landed in Virginia determined to impose their values on everyone they encountered. Simultaneously the first Russians crossed the Urals and the two empires that would dominate the twentieth century were born. Empires Apart traces the remarkable parallels in American and Russian histories up to the Cold War and beyond.

It covers the history of the American and Russian Empires from the Vikings to the present day. It shows that the two empires developed in parallel as they expanded to the Pacific and launched wars against the nations around them. They both developed an imperial “ideology” that was central to the way they way they perceived themselves. Then in the period between the American Civil War and the Spanish-American War the American ideology changed and the lust for new territory to conquer largely disappeared. It is argued that what caused this change was the advent of Big Business which set out to conquer the world in a different way. Soon after the ideology of the Russian Empire also changed with the advent of Communism.

The key argument of the book is that these changes did not alter the core imperial values of either nation; both Americans and Russians continued to believe that their manifest destiny was to impose their will on others. Corporatist and Communist Imperialism changed only the mechanics of Empire. Both nations have shown that they are still willing to use military force and clandestine intrigue to enforce imperial control.

In order to support these arguments it is necessary to strip away many of the preconceptions of popular history and the book uses numerous anecdotes to illustrate events as they really happened. The most pervasive preconception is that America has never been an “imperial” power; by recounting the history of the two nations alongside each other this preconception is decisively dissolved.

The Iraq War has led to widespread condemnation of American foreign policy – often coupled with the assertion that in invading Iraq the United States has abandoned the principles upon which its greatness has been based. At the same time critics have been derided for their crude anti-Americanism. The United States, it is claimed, has been throughout its history a selfless defender of democracy in sharp contrast to tyrannies elsewhere. The Cold War victory over Russia is used to remind us that it was the US that saved the world from the claws of the “Evil Empire”.

“Empires Apart” shows that far from the Iraq War being an aberration America’s road to Baghdad started when the first Englishman landed on Roanoke Island, musket in hand. Americans conquered their way across a continent to the Pacific and beyond so that by the end of the Spanish-American War they controlled an empire stretching from Cuba to Hawaii and the Philippines. In this there are exact parallels with Russia. At the same time that the English were crossing the Atlantic Russians were crossing the Urals and conquering their way to the Pacific.

The difference between the Russian and American Empires is that by the end of the nineteenth century American settlers conquering new territories were replaced by America corporations conquering new markets – but still with US Marines in support.

“Empires Apart” uncovers the real story behind the growth of the American Empire from the first 9/11 style terrorist attacks launched against the natives by the early Puritans to the disastrous Polar Bear Expedition against the Bolsheviks and the “regime changes” of the twentieth century.

Uniquely “Empires Apart” shows how the broad sweep of American history follows a consistent path from the first settlers to the present day and by comparing this with Russia’s path – frankly labelled “imperial” by the Russian Tsars – demonstrates the true nature of America’s global ambitions. In doing so it uncovers the nation’s hidden history – slave raids targeting Spanish missionaries, the first US attack on Libya in 1815, the workers soviet that briefly claimed to control the city of Seattle in 1919, the destruction of Iranian democracy in 1953, the choreographed murder of Che Guevara.

Empires Apart will entertain and educate, amuse and alarm, shame and shock. Everyone will learn something new; no one will have their beliefs unchallenged

In summary the book:

Demonstrates the remarkable parallels between American history and the expansion of the Russian Empire
Demonstrates the importance of the rise of the Corporation in transforming the way America related to the nations around it and the wider world
Contains numerous new and challenging insights in American history
Explains how the dogmas of the early English settlers started the United States inexorably down the road to Iraq