"What Laderman presents is a fascinating account of a sport whose proponents believed it to be apolitical, but facing the politics of a modern world." H-Net "Laderman's history offers intriguing moments in which he pulls together surfing narratives of soldiers and other state agents- illustrating the degree to which pleasure and power were intimately linked in the world that American foreign policy produced."
Vernadette Vicuna Gonzalez The Journal of American History "An authoritative account of the intersection of politics and surfing."
Brian Unger The Surfer's Journal "A richly documented and compactly written monograph."
Richard O. Davies American Historical Review "Well-written and engaging."
Glyn Ford Asian Review of Books "Empire in Waves deserves the widest possible audience... An excellent example of entertaining writing from a scholar."
Ed Jaggard Journal of Sports History "Empire in Waves raises important and underanalysed issues in surfing history and culture. With its impressive notes and bibliography, it will contribute to university classrooms and aid academic research in future surfing scholarship." The Journal of Pacific History "Empire of Waves is the best (anti-)beach book I've read in a long time. I highly recommend taking Laderman on vacation with you-he'll absolutely ruin it."
Tim Paulson Make Magazine "Laderman's highly-readable and broadly-documented analysis of surfing's political history is a timely arrival, not only to the rapidly-evolving scholarly index of surf studies, but also to a contemporary waveriding culture forcefully embracing the political potential of surf-driven initiatives in the form of non-profits, Enviro Business, and drives for sustainability across the surfing world." Canadian Journal of History