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Gangsters of Capitalism
- Smedley Butler, the Marines, and the Making and Breaking of America's Empire
- Narrated by: Adam Barr
- Length: 14 hrs and 46 mins
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Gangsters of Capitalism
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Publisher's Summary
A groundbreaking journey tracing America’s forgotten path to global power - and how its legacies shape our world today - told through the extraordinary life of a complicated Marine.
Smedley Butler was the most celebrated warfighter of his time. Best-selling books were written about him. Hollywood adored him. Wherever the flag went, “The Fighting Quaker” went - serving in nearly every major overseas conflict from the Spanish War of 1898 until the eve of World War II. From his first days as a 16-year-old recruit at the newly seized Guantánamo Bay, he blazed a path for empire: helping annex the Philippines and the land for the Panama Canal, leading troops in China (twice), and helping invade and occupy Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Mexico, and more. Yet in retirement, Butler turned into a warrior against war, imperialism, and big business, declaring: “I was a racketeer for capitalism."
Award-winning author Jonathan Myerson Katz traveled across the world - from China to Guantánamo, the mountains of Haiti to the Panama Canal - and pored over the personal letters of Butler, his fellow Marines, and his Quaker family on Philadelphia's Main Line. Along the way, Katz shows how the consequences of the Marines' actions are still very much alive: talking politics with a Sandinista commander in Nicaragua, getting a martial arts lesson from a devotee of the Boxer Rebellion in China, and getting cast as a POW extra in a Filipino movie about their American War. Tracing a path from the first wave of US overseas expansionism to the rise of fascism in the 1930s to the crises of democracy in our own time, Gangsters of Capitalism tells an urgent story about a formative era most Americans have never learned about, but that the rest of the world cannot forget.
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What the critics say
"Lively, deeply researched ... Katz’s engaging style brings history alive."—Associated Press
"Like Butler himself, Katz’s book is singular and hard to pin down ... an exhilarating hybrid of studious history and adventuresome travelogue."—Jacobin
"Katz’s realism may shock many readers, but they would be well served to join him in pulling back the curtain, tipping over the jugs of institutional Kool-Aid, and taking a long, cold hard look in the proverbial mirror. Like watching a train wreck in slow motion, this is a raw historical perspective that will both fascinate and unsettle."—Task and Purpose
What listeners say about Gangsters of Capitalism
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- TK
- 2022-01-28
A penultimate read for any Smedley-head
Even having been fascinated with Smedley Butler for years this was still an eye-opener. The author going out and following Smedley's footsteps across continents was great for the telling of the story on top of research.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2023-01-18
An eye opener on our past
Great insight into the ugly side of motivation to war. Fascinating historical accounts that bring clarity to many of the developing countries that we hear of today. Great read or listen. Cheers
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- John Clement
- 2022-08-14
Exceptional work of historical journalism.
Not just the story of one soldier, a marine, embedded in most of America's misguided imperialist adventures from the end of the 19th century to the early 20th century, but a clear accounting of how the past informs the future.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- David
- 2024-04-18
Spoiled by deranged far-left political bias
A well written and narrated propaganda piece about Donald Trump and Jan 6th, inexplicably ruining this life story of the truly intriguing General Butler. The authors TDS of such severity that he couldn't get out of his own way. Donald Trump need not be mentioned at all in this book, let alone in every few chapters apropos of nothing. The very least the reader could ask is to find basic ground truths and facts if you must go there, but no such luck. This book will not age well - and it makes one wonder what liberties were taken with the real details of Butler's life in this story?
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Monique Horaski
- 2023-02-12
Shameful. Total Political Bias
The Butler story was excellent, I enjoyed that part.
There are few instances where the author states historical events.
However, a majority of this writing is political propaganda and a total fabrication of history.
The author does an excellent job manipulating the English language to lead the reader to associate his political opponents with the misdeeds done by his political heros.
Masterful writing in that sense.
Shameful that this was actually published and immortalized in writing for future generations to read with an impression that there is a truth to this fantasy story.
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2 people found this helpful