American Imperialist - by Arwen P Mohun (Hardcover)

About the Book

"The work of imperialism requires imperialists. But who were the everyday people who willingly served the traditional European empires? Why did they do things that ranged from thoughtless and amoral to criminal and unforgivable? With unblinking clarity and precision, Arwen Mohun here interrogates the life and actions of her great-grandfather Richard Dorsey Mohun, an American who abetted King Leopold of Belgium's horrific exploitation of the Congo Free State. Mohun details his careless and racist use of power, revealing him as an all-too-unreflective ambassador of American corporate imperialism. She seeks not to excuse Dorsey but to understand how individual desire and imperial lust fueled one another, to catastrophic ends"--

Book Synopsis

This biography of "African explorer" Richard Dorsey Mohun, written by one of his descendants, reveals how American greed and state power helped shape the new imperial order in Africa.

Richard Dorsey Mohun spent his career circulating among the eastern United States, the cities and courts of Europe, and the African continent, as he served the US State Department at some points and King Leopold of Belgium at others. A freelance imperialist, he implemented the schemes of American investors and the Congo Free State alike. Without men like him, Africa's history might have unfolded very differently. How did an ordinary son of a Washington bookseller become the agent of American corporate greed and European imperial ambition? Why did he choose to act in ways that ranged from thoughtless and amoral to criminal and unforgivable?

With unblinking clarity and precision, historian Arwen P. Mohun interrogates the life and actions of her great-grandfather in American Imperialist. She seeks not to excuse the man known as Dorsey but to understand how individual ambition and imperial lust fueled each other, to catastrophic ends. Ultimately, she offers a nuanced portrait of how her great-grandfather's pursuit of career success and financial security for his family came at a tragic cost to countless Africans.

Review Quotes

"One of the more impressive aspects of this book is Mohun's ability to tell a captivating story without skimping on rigorous research. With fifty-nine pages of footnotes and drawing from an extensive and up-to-date body of scholarly knowledge, the book will of course appeal to academic audiences. But Mohun's carefully written and engaging prose will ensure it enjoys a wider readership. I will add, on a personal note, that one sometimes has a sense reading a text that its author became passionately engaged and consumed by its subject, to the point that the research and writing gained their own kinetic energy. I had this feeling reading Mohun's book."-- "H-Diplo"

"Compelling. . . . This page-turner should encourage more public interest in other US imperialists, including Henry Sanford, who was instrumental in founding the Free State. One also hopes that it will stimulate more work on the African collective memory of such imperialists, to assess the lasting consequences of their nefarious actions."-- "Times Literary Supplement"

"Mohun further pulls back the veil on American collusion with King Leopold in his brutal rule over the Congo Free State. More specifically, she exposes the ways in which men like her great-grandfather participated in the violent subjugation of African peoples and the seizure of African lands to enrich the coffers of the Belgian monarch. In telling her ancestor's story, taking the reader from the shores of Zanzibar to Boma, Mohun reveals how Dorsey's time in Africa embodied the 'remarkable influence of American money and expertise' in imperial ventures during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries."-- "Jeannette Eileen Jones, author of '"In Search of Brightest Africa: Reimagining the Dark Continent in American Culture, 1884-1936""

"American Imperialist is an engrossing and well-researched book that effectively draws on manuscripts, government archival sources, and contemporary print media. Richard Dorsey Mohun, the subject of the book and the author's great grandfather, is a fascinating and little-known figure whose career instructively points to the ways that a bureaucrat's work can be deeply entangled in the project of US imperialism."-- "Ira Dworkin, author of 'Congo Love Song: African American Culture and the Crisis of the Colonial State'"

"When a historian begins to untangle family myths, very interesting things emerge. Remembered as an 'African explorer, ' the man who was simply called 'Dorsey' was representative, a stereotype brought to life. But Mohun's deft and delicate recovery of a family ancestor reveals a more complicated person, at once desperate and anxious and confident, his past precarious and his future uncertain. Herein lies the all-too-human story of how one ordinary person, buffeted by the winds of change, seeks refuge in the service of the American empire and becomes its most perfect avatar."-- "Matthew Guterl, author of 'Skinfolk: A Memoir'"

About the Author

Arwen P. Mohun is professor of history at the University of Delaware. She teaches and writes about capitalism, technology, and gender in American history. Her most recent book is Risk: Negotiating Safety in American Society.