The Spanish war, an American Epic-1898
The book “The Spanish war, An American epic-1898” is a heroic and detailed book on the Spanish-American War of 1898, one of the less significant known wars in American and global history but nonetheless highly significant. The author, O'Toole; does a remarkably reliable and remarkable job talking over all characteristics of the Spanish war, giving in details not only the land and marine operations throughout the war, , but the political events that preceded the crisis and in the course of it. The author of this book discusses the actions on the American radical scene in Congress, the White House, and the press prior to and all through the conflict. In addition, he discusses in details the previous events in associations between the United States, Cuba, and with Spain, and how the US had an extensive connection in Cuba long before 1898 smuggling guns, trafficking, and then assisting Cuban rebels and insurgents against Spanish authorities (O’Toole 45). O'Toole attempts to show that the Spanish-American War was virtually inevitable given the historical background of American participation and opinions on the region, and was not out of the jurisdiction of the possibility that war could have taken place much earlier.
The book states that on the evening of February 15, in the year 1898, the American battleship Maine was tattered in half by a blast in Havana harbor. This resulted to 266 American who were in board losing their lives. This was what saw the War between America and Spain that trailed nine weeks after the explosion. After a war that lasted for three-months, the epoch of segregation was gone for good due to the fact that the United States made alliances and increased spheres of influence that were necessary for molding its destiny for the upcoming decades. O'Toole vibrantly portrays the swing of events and also provides new discoveries on the mysterious operation of Maine and on the role played by Washington in the development of the conflict (O’Toole 77).
The purpose of the author in this book is to show as to why there was the war between Spain and America in 1898. The Spanish-American War was in numerous ways a war between a deteriorating Spain, progressively weak in Europe, overstretched, fighting a war that it did not need over control purposes. The power for the author by Spain was gradually more worry than it was of value. On the other side, a rising United States, enthusiastic to test its military and political strength after the long recovery after the Civil War was increasingly apprehensive with dealings that were going on outside it borders. The Americans felt that they were strong enough and thus eager and enthusiastic. This was largely contributed by Theodore Roosevelt development and running of a progressive world class fleet. The Spanish-American War marks as the beginning of the introduction of the US as a world power as the end results of this war were the Americans defeating a chief European power(O’Toole 121).
The author of this book portrays in full details the conflicts on land and in the sea between these two super powers and how the war was different in the named regions. The marine conflicts went remarkably well for the United States acknowledgments to excellent strategies and ships, and losses were extremely few. He also clearly shows how the Battle of Manila Bay and happenings in the Philippines made Admiral Dewey a hero, and also portrays how Oregon's dash about the Horn made it a star. The land wars stand in glaring difference as they were affected by unsystematic leadership most of the times that was characterized by ill-preparation; tough terrain, illness, and an anxious Spanish resistance force. Losses were much in number in the land wars, and the author expresses how the war in the forests and highlands of Cuba was far not a walk over. "O'Toole concludes the book with an analysis at war in the Philippines; this was a war that soon advanced into the Philippine Insurrection. However, the author fails to spend much time and focus on this area of the war, he analyses some shockingly parallels between this area of operations and the much future of the Vietnam War (O’Toole 135).
This book is a perfect choice for any individual that is interested in the American history and most essentially “The Spanish War". The author objectively narrates all the situations adjoining the eruption, conduct, and resolve of the war. Though the Spanish-American War took place in a short period of time and was conclusive in its result, O'Toole argues out the hard realities that were faced by both sides in aspects of, military strategy, logistics, interior politics, and foreign policies. Enhanced by photographs and existing accounts of the time, O'Toole defines in vivid detail the naval and land activities of the Spanish War; this is evident when he narrates on the blast of the battleship Maine and its fatal outcome (O’Toole 56). The book is suitably subtitled An American Epic, due to the fact that the war did bring about the foreign development of the United States and its succeeding rise as a world power. The author does a commendable job making the story applicable to the regular person. However, it is essential to note that for an individual who are extremely conversant with the Spanish-American war, this book may not be broad enough. Nonetheless, for those people who need the basic information of this particular episode in the American history, this book provides a brilliant and neutral overview of the events.
