William Appleman Williams--The Tragedy of Empire: The Tragedy of Empire (American Radicals)

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Summary: Nuanced Intellectual Biography of an American Thinker
Review: "The Tragedy of Empire" is one of those hidden gems of a book, perhaps predestined to obscurity by the very elements that make it such a remarkable read.

Buhle and Rice-Maximin were (and clearly fundamentally remain) students of William Appleman Williams, a radical historian whose ideas and arguments constituted, to subvert Woodrow Wilson's phrase, "history with a lightning bolt." WAW created a collection of works that read like Greek tragedy written across America's past, present, and future. It's difficult for me to ascertain exactly how Buhle and Rice-Maximin were able to so penetrate Williams, as he remained always a mercurial figure, but nonetheless they have completed a nuanced, philosophical expedition that plumbs so deeply into the enigma of Williams that it will likely scare off any potential intellectual biographers in the future.

The authors find the heart of Williams's "Weltanshauung," to use Williams's word of choice for something akin to but much more weighty than a worldview, in the American Midwest. A "prairie radical," as the authors put it in a delightful turn of phrase, Williams embodied the etymological meaning of the word "radical" (which means one who returns to the root or foundation of) as he found his "Weltanshauung" in his reflections of his boyhood in small-town Iowa and in the dynamic community of intellectuals he found in Madison, Wis.

Perhaps some of the authors' most thoughtful perceptions revolve around trying to understand the role of community in intellectual pursuit. Even as WAW carved his own inimitable figure, his thoughts were always in interplay with those of his mentors, colleagues, and students. Williams also approached ideas with a grave seriousness, finding inspiration in a vast library of works not superficially related to his chosen craft of history. In tying this all together, Buhle and Rice-Maximin have produced a sort of blueprint for young scholars--whether they be students of history or any discipline--looking to figure out how to comprehend and interpret that illusive catch-all of catch-alls, the human condition.

William Appleman Williams possessed a rare humanity that continues to challenge us to better ourselves in elemental ways. And he speaks to us as much now as in his own day, as the still-standing dilemma of empire lies at the core of his writing. He thought long and hard about the danger posed to democracy at home by "carrying civilization and liberty to the benighted masses of the world." He challenged us to turn inward, to find our own roots--to "radicalize," as it were. "If everyone elsewhere does deny us the chance to realize ourselves by changing them," he wrote, "we nevertheless have a magnificent fall-back position: we can finally confront the question of what we are going to make of America."

Few thinkers challenge us to find and define ourselves--as individuals, as a nation (or empire), and, crucially, as a community--as Williams challenges us. And yet his name has drifted into the ether: I studied history at UW as an undergraduate without ever hearing his name (even as I now realize his legacy saturated my education). So this book is all the more valuable, as there is no better way to introduce Williams into our heads than by reading "The Tragedy of Empire," for few biographers find the core of their subject as Buhle and Rice-Maximin have.