| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 108.4

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| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 108.4 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Canada and the United States

Robert E. May. Manifest Destiny's Underworld: Filibustering in Antebellum America. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. 2002. Pp. xviii, 426. $45.00.
As helicopter blades whirled above the plaza's bloody chaos, the CIA agent demanded, "What is your nationality, sir?" Grim and defiant, the man in black yelled, "I am William Walker, the president of Nicaragua." This flight of anachronism marked the conclusion of a provocative postmodern film detailing the controversial career of the nineteenth-century's most famous filibuster. Although war and empire are constant themes in United States history, rarely has Hollywood chosen to explore this dark but fascinating side of American expansionism. Walker (1987) quickly descended into celluloid oblivion, just as the awareness of his activities remains obscure in the public mind. This, of course, is Robert E. May's essential point: the filibusters, who had a critical impact on contemporary American culture and politics, have largely vanished from our historical memory.	1
Numerous tracts have been written about Cuba, Mexico, and Nicaragua as well as about individual adventurers, including Walker, Henry Kinney, and Narcisco Lopez. May himself has penned a fine volume on John Quitman. Yet no one has heretofore synthesized the filibusterers' activities and analyzed who served, their motivation, ideology, funding, and role in the broader milieu. The author thus provides not only an overview of major and minor expeditions but also a colorful and interesting look at their identities and the consequences of their actions.	. . .

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