Description
Book SynopsisFrom 1866 through 1886, the US Army occupied southern Arizona and New Mexico in an attempt to claim it for settlement by Americans. Through a postcolonial lens, Janne Lahti examines the army, its officers, their wives, and the enlisted men as agents of an American empire whose mission was to serve as a group of colonizers engaged in ideological as well as military, conquest.
Trade Review"Provocative."—Robert Wooster,
Montana, The Magazine of Western History"This is a useful book that should be read widely."—C. Joseph Genetin-Pilawa,
Journal of American History"Cultural Construction of Empire is an engaging and thought-provoking look at how the U.S. Army did as much to expand the American empire through its social and cultural bearing as it did on the battlefield. This s an important contribution to the history of the Southwest and U.S. Army."—Gary L. Cheatham,
Southwestern Historical Quarterly"Lahti has produced an excellent book, one that is richly researched, thoughtful, engaging, and nicely organized."—Daniel Herman,
Journal of Arizona HistoryTable of ContentsList of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction: A Colonizer Community in the Borderlands
1. From Apacheria to American Southwest
2. Journey to the "Outside"
3. The Place Facing Colonialism
4. Apaches in White Army Minds
5. Army Village as Middle-Class Living Space
6. Manual Labor and Leisure
7. Colonized Labor
Conclusion: An Empire
Notes
Bibliography
Index
