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William Walker's Wars: How One Man's Private American Army Tried to Conquer Mexico, Nicaragua, and Honduras
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About William Walker's Wars: How One Man's Private
Product Description In the decade before the onset of the Civil War, groups of Americans engaged in a series of longshot—and illegal—forays into Mexico, Cuba, and other Central American countries in hopes of taking them over. These efforts became known as filibustering, and their goal was to seize territory to create new independent fiefdoms, which would ultimately be annexed by the still-growing United States. Most failed miserably. William Walker was the outlier. Short, slender, and soft-spoken with no military background—he trained as a doctor before becoming a lawyer and then a newspaper editor—Walker was an unlikely leader of rough-hewn men and adventurers. But in 1856 he managed to install himself as president of Nicaragua. Neighboring governments saw Walker as a risk to the region and worked together to drive him out—efforts aided, incongruously, by the United States’ original tycoon, Cornelius Vanderbilt. William Walker’s Wars is a story of greedy dreams and ambitions, the fate of nations and personal fortunes, and the dark side of Manifest Destiny, for among Walker’s many goals was to build his own empire based on slavery. This little-remembered story from US history is a cautionary tale for all who dream of empire. Review "Restless and ambitious, Walker studied medicine in Europe, law in New Orleans, and journalism in San Francisco, but the pinnacle of his success came as he declared himself president first of his own republic and then of Nicaragua, with no military or governing experience to guide him.... This mesmerizing cautionary tale is sure to fascinate armchair historians." -- Publishers Weekly "Scott Martelle has written a marvelous book that uncovers alittle-known and dark corner of American history, when men like WilliamWalker invaded sovereign countries to grab land and expand slavery. Inthis well-researched tale, Martelle exposes the deep roots of Americanimperialism and how one arrogant man, convinced of his superiority andbluster, wreaked havoc on Central America." --Frances Dinkelspiel, author of Towers of Gold and Tangled Vines "William Walker was theultimate illegal immigrant: a US citizen who wanted to be emperor ofLatin America--and actually seized control of Nicaragua, causing aninternational crisis. Scott Martelle's page-turning account draws onthorough research to tell the story of William Walker as it has neverbeen told before." --T. J. Stiles, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for TheFirst Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt and Custer's Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America "William Walker's Warsoffers a gripping account of a forgotten and troubling slice of American history. Scott Martelle knows how to tell a story. Using a great massof source materials and a novelist's eye for detail, he superblyexplores the complex truths of Manifest Destiny and human ambition." --Jonathan Eig, author of Get Capone and Ali: A Life "Martelle presents a well-written and researched narrative, captivating in scope." --Booklist "Mr. Martelle ... tells his story efficiently and well, without trying to manipulate Walker's erratic impulses into a coherent agenda. Even so, the picture that emerges is a striking demonstration of the furious energies that expanded the American Republic, and nearly tore it apart." -- Adam Rowe in the Wall Street Journal About the Author Scott Martelle, an editorial writer for the Los Angeles Times, is the author of The Madman and the Assassin, The Admiral and the Ambassador, Blood Passion, Detroit: A Biography, and The Fear Within.
