5. David McCullough, The Path Between the Seas . Authoritative narrative history of the Panama Canal and U.S. treaty-based strategic control.
6. Mary A. Renda, Taking Haiti: Military Occupation and the Culture of U.S. Imperialism, 1915–1940 . Examination of U.S. occupation, constitutional revision, and financial governance in Haiti.
7. Stephen Kinzer, Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq . Survey of U.S.-backed coups and regime interventions, emphasizing Cold War mechanics.
8. Fredrik Logevall, Embers of War . Pulitzer Prize–winning history of U.S. escalation in Vietnam and the limits of imperial discretion.
9. Greg Grandin, Empire’s Workshop: Latin America, the United States, and the Rise of the New Imperialism . Analysis of U.S. interventionism and authoritarian alliances in Latin America.
10. Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Imperial Life in the Emerald City . Ground-level account of American occupation governance in Iraq and the modern mechanics of empire without annexation.