At the end of the nineteenth century the United States swiftly occupied a string of small islands dotting the Caribbean and Western Pacific, from Puerto Rico and Cuba to Hawaii and the Philippines. Colonial Crucible reveals how this experiment in direct territorial rule subtly but profoundly shaped US policy and practice - both abroad and, crucially, at home.

Alfred W. McCoy is the J. R. W. Smail Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of A Question of Torture and The Politics of Heroin. Francisco A. Scarano is professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of Puerto Rico: Cinco siglos de historia.