Miles M. Evers is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Connecticut, where he focuses on the intersection of international security and political economy. He has been published in the European Journal of International Relations, International Security, International Studies Quarterly, International Theory, and Perspectives on Politics. Eric Grynaviski is an associate professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University. He has previously published Constructive Illusions (2014), which won the Jervis-Schroeder Best Book Award, and America's Middlemen (Cambridge, 2018), which won the Best Book by the Foreign Policy Section of APSA and Best Book by the Diplomatic Studies section of ISA.

'Many scholars assume that the United States expanded across the Pacific during the 1800s in pursuit of strategic territories or access to Asian markets. The Price of Empire persuasively dispels these state-centric myths, demonstrating through clear theoretical argumentation and careful historical analysis how private entrepreneurs drove U.S. expansion in the Pacific by coopting state agents and lobbying federal leaders. It is an essential read for political scientists and historians interested in American imperialism.' Richard W. Maass, Associate Professor of Political Science, Old Dominion University

• Introduction; 1. One man and no dog: an entrepreneurial theory of American Pacific imperialism; 2. Birds and bases: American expansion under the Guano Act; 3. Germans and coconuts: American Imperialism in Samoa; 4. Sugar and paradise: American Imperialism in Hawaii; 5. Slavers and gin runners: explaining Pacific non-expansion; Conclusion.

Miles M. Evers is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Connecticut, where he focuses on the intersection of international security and political economy. He has been published in the European Journal of International Relations, International Security, International Studies Quarterly, International Theory, and Perspectives on Politics. Eric Grynaviski is an associate professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University. He has previously published Constructive Illusions (2014), which won the Jervis-Schroeder Best Book Award, and America's Middlemen (Cambridge, 2018), which won the Best Book by the Foreign Policy Section of APSA and Best Book by the Diplomatic Studies section of ISA.

'Many scholars assume that the United States expanded across the Pacific during the 1800s in pursuit of strategic territories or access to Asian markets. The Price of Empire persuasively dispels these state-centric myths, demonstrating through clear theoretical argumentation and careful historical analysis how private entrepreneurs drove U.S. expansion in the Pacific by coopting state agents and lobbying federal leaders. It is an essential read for political scientists and historians interested in American imperialism.' Richard W. Maass, Associate Professor of Political Science, Old Dominion University

• Introduction; 1. One man and no dog: an entrepreneurial theory of American Pacific imperialism; 2. Birds and bases: American expansion under the Guano Act; 3. Germans and coconuts: American Imperialism in Samoa; 4. Sugar and paradise: American Imperialism in Hawaii; 5. Slavers and gin runners: explaining Pacific non-expansion; Conclusion.

Miles M. Evers is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Connecticut, where he focuses on the intersection of international security and political economy. He has been published in the European Journal of International Relations, International Security, International Studies Quarterly, International Theory, and Perspectives on Politics. Eric Grynaviski is an associate professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University. He has previously published Constructive Illusions (2014), which won the Jervis-Schroeder Best Book Award, and America's Middlemen (Cambridge, 2018), which won the Best Book by the Foreign Policy Section of APSA and Best Book by the Diplomatic Studies section of ISA.

'Many scholars assume that the United States expanded across the Pacific during the 1800s in pursuit of strategic territories or access to Asian markets. The Price of Empire persuasively dispels these state-centric myths, demonstrating through clear theoretical argumentation and careful historical analysis how private entrepreneurs drove U.S. expansion in the Pacific by coopting state agents and lobbying federal leaders. It is an essential read for political scientists and historians interested in American imperialism.' Richard W. Maass, Associate Professor of Political Science, Old Dominion University

• Introduction; 1. One man and no dog: an entrepreneurial theory of American Pacific imperialism; 2. Birds and bases: American expansion under the Guano Act; 3. Germans and coconuts: American Imperialism in Samoa; 4. Sugar and paradise: American Imperialism in Hawaii; 5. Slavers and gin runners: explaining Pacific non-expansion; Conclusion.