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The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire

March 21, 2017 | 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Boston Athenaeum welcomes STEVEN KINZER for a discussion on his newest book, The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire. Acclaimed journalist Kinzer will discuss the domestic clamor over America’s imperial ventures at the dawn of the 20th century. After a century of continental expansion, the United States came upon an opportunity to expand overseas by capturing Spanish colonial possessions and other territories within its reach. The nation plunged into polemic debate, with political and intellectual giants contesting “the imperial idea.” Kinzer will argue that the imperial/anti-imperial dichotomy remains a dominant feature of the American psyche.

Did You Know?

Certain books were “banned in Boston” at least as far back as 1651, when one William Pynchon wrote a book criticizing Puritanism.