“This superb collection of essays provides a necessary background for the stories that jump off today’s front pages—a supposedly wondrous American ‘empire,’ the hidden dilemmas of nation-building, drug-trafficking, colliding cultures, and a touching faith in American exceptionalism. As analyzed by some of our best younger scholars, we can now see clearly—and learn from—what happened to that earlier generation who set out to make the United States an imperial power.”—Walter LaFeber, Cornell University "This is an important and distinctive work. As an earlier discourse for understanding the diffusion of modernizing influences, technology, and global exchange, imperialism is the most important precursor to today's globalized economy and culture. Yet there are few studies of imperialism (and particularly American imperialism) that are broadly comparative or contextual. Filling this blank spot on the map, The American Colonial State in the Philippines will be of interest to a wide audience."—Nick Cullather, author of Illusions of Influence: The Political Economy of United States–Philippines Relations, 1942–1960