---
product_id: 3422331
title: "Overthrow"
price: "309050៛"
currency: KHR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 13
url: https://cambodia.desertcart.com/products/3422331-overthrow
store_origin: KH
region: Cambodia
---

# Overthrow

**Price:** 309050៛
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Overthrow
- **How much does it cost?** 309050៛ with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [cambodia.desertcart.com](https://cambodia.desertcart.com/products/3422331-overthrow)

## Best For

- Customers looking for quality international products

## Why This Product

- Free international shipping included
- Worldwide delivery with tracking
- 15-day hassle-free returns

## Description

From the author of Boiling Point , Overthrow provides a fast-paced narrative history of the coups, revolutions, and invasions by which the United States has toppled fourteen foreign governments ―not always to its own benefit "Detailed, passionate and convincing . . . [with] the pace and grip of a good thriller." ―Anatol Lieven, The New York Times Book Review "Regime change" did not begin with the administration of George W. Bush, but has been an integral part of U.S. foreign policy for more than one hundred years. Starting with the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893 and continuing through the Spanish-American War and the Cold War and into our own time, the United States has not hesitated to overthrow governments that stood in the way of its political and economic goals. The invasion of Iraq in 2003 is the latest, though perhaps not the last, example of the dangers inherent in these operations. In Overthrow , Stephen Kinzer tells the stories of the audacious politicians, spies, military commanders, and business executives who took it upon themselves to depose monarchs, presidents, and prime ministers. He also shows that the U.S. government has often pursued these operations without understanding the countries involved; as a result, many of them have had disastrous long-term consequences. In a compelling and provocative history that takes readers to fourteen countries, including Cuba, Iran, South Vietnam, Chile, and Iraq, Kinzer surveys modern American history from a new and often surprising perspective.

Review: Do As I Say, Not As I Do - Most Americans are outraged by Russian interference in our 2016 election. That’s because we hold dear our right to self-determination without another country determining the outcome. On the other hand, the USA has a long history of not showing the same kind of respect for the self-determination of other nations that we expect for ourselves. This book describes in shocking detail the fourteen times our country has overthrown legitimate governments – some duly elected – around the world. This is not dry history, however; Kinzer’s retelling reads like a suspense novel. The first instance came in 1893 when the American ambassador in Hawaii conspired with American planters to overthrow the native government of Queen Liliuokalani. It took 100 years for the U.S. government to recognize the error of its ways. A resolution passed Congress and signed by President Clinton in 1993 states that Congress, “apologizes to native Hawaiians on behalf of the people of the United States for the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom on Jan. 17, 1893,” and for the subsequent “deprivation of the rights of Native Hawaiians to self-determination.” Unfortunately, there has been no similar apology to the peoples of Iran, Cuba, the Philippines, Nicaragua, Guatamala, Vietnam and Puerto Rico. Hawaii is the 50th state. If Puerto Rico ever becomes the 51st, perhaps then another apology will be forthcoming. Following Hawaii, the second overthrow came at the end of the Spanish-American War, when the McKinley administration decided to take control of several Spanish colonies, instead of liberating them to govern themselves. The “consent of the governed” did not matter to most Americans when it came to Cubans, Puerto Ricans and Filipinos. Before Congress agreed to declare war on Spain, the Teller Amendment had to be added to gain sufficient support. That Amendment declares that “the people of the island of Cuba are, and of right ought to be, free and independent. The United States hereby disclaims any disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said island.” Once the war ends. the USA intends “to leave the government and control of the island to its people.” Cuban rebels had been actively fighting Spanish rule three years, and they expected to gain their promised independence fighting alongside the Americans. Nonetheless, the Teller Amendment was quickly discarded at the end of the war as McKinley announced that the USA would rule Cuba. The new policy was embodied in the Platt Amendment of 1901, “a crucial document in the history of American foreign policy,” because versions of “plattismo” were subsequently applied to many nations in Central America and the Caribbean. Under this Amendment, which was adopted with only Republican votes, the USA agreed to end its occupation of Cuba as soon as Cubans accepted a constitution giving the U.S. the rights to maintain military bases, to supervise the treasury, and “the right to intervene for the preservation of Cuban independence or the maintenance of a government adequate for the protection of property and individual liberty.” Cubans weren’t the only Latin Americans denied self-determination. Similar domination happened to Nicaragua and Honduras, initially to protect the monopolies of a handful of American banana corporations. This interference led to generations of dictators, conflict and death. To this day, Honduras has the world’s highest murder rate, in part due to American policies. The greatest tragedy happened to the Philippines. The Filipino guerilla leader, Emilio Aguinaldo, understood that his people were promised their independence by Admiral Dewey, who later swore he made no such commitment. The USA paid $20 million to Spain for the islands. Meanwhile, the rebels had elected an assembly, produced a constitution, and proclaimed the independent Republic of the Philippines in 1899, with Aguinaldo as president. The new government was determined to defend its independence. McKinley had other plans. The war to suppress Philippine independence lasted three years and led to tens of thousands of deaths. Recent estimates put the total at 250,000. U.S. troops used torture and massacre of civilians suspected of aiding the guerillas. The New York Post wrote that American troops “have been pursuing a policy of wholesale and deliberate murder.” This war was one of the worst episodes in Filipino history. Filipinos were denied their independence until 1946. The first CIA overthrow of a foreign government was in Iran in 1953. The second came the following year in Guatamala. Both countries had democratically elected governments, and both were forcibly replaced by dictators – the Shah in one, and a former army officer in the other. The long-term effects were tragic. The next target for overthrow was in 1963 when JFK decided to remove the Diem regime that the USA had installed in South Vietnam. A friend of America, Diem was murdered and the war was lost anyway. Chile was the next target. The CIA had interfered in elections there since 1964 to prevent a socialist from winning. After Salvador Allende won, the CIA fomented his overthrow in 1973, installing a brutal dictator, Gen. Pinochet. Other targets were the governments in Grenada in 1983, Panama in 1989, and Iraq in 2003. Kinzer compares George W. Bush to William McKinley: both believed they were morally justified, and neither anticipated the deadly insurgencies that followed in the Philippines and in Iraq. “Do as I say, not as I do,” isn’t persuasive for children, much less to the rest of the world. American officials frequently assert the right to intervene militarily or otherwise whenever and where ever it is deemed in the American interest to do so, even to protect the interest of American corporations. “In almost every case,” writes Kinzer, “overthrowing the government of a foreign country, has, in the end, led both that country and the United States to grief.” Consequently, Americans should recognize the sources of anti-American resentment, and be less hypocritical in denouncing other nations who follow our example. If it’s wrong for others, then by what principle of international law is it justified when we do it? ###
Review: Paring history down to the essential lessons. - I will not repeat the many excellent comments here except that Kinzer writes very well, making the read fascinating and factually solid. Other points: I think Kinzer made it fairly clear that the deposed leaders were not necessarily great or without flaws. The point is that when we went into these countries and replaced their democratically elected leaders with our puppet leaders, most of them turned out to be difficult to overthrow despots and tyrants. This left the fledgling democracies no chance to learn whether that elected official was good or bad, and gain more experience and time to develop their political parties and election processes. Instead, it repeatedly developed an environment where the only groups that could overthrow those puppets were fanatics and zealots, who grew out of the resentment of the American interference and the suffering of the country under quasi American rule. Besides, who are we to point fingers at the less than perfect elected leaders of other countries? The economic aspects of the overthrows were clearly an essential part of the pattern. However Kinzer stresses that the politicians had their own geo-political reasons for stepping in - often using the nationalization of companies as an excuse to hide their motives. The nationalization process is often misunderstood and Kinzer did a very good job of pointing out this rarely had much to do with anything but mild socialism. Instead, it was a response to the centuries of imperialism that allowed developed countries to take over so much of the underdeveloped world - almost exclusively those that had valuable resources to develop. During that phase, many companies became international power houses by developing those resources and selling them - with minimal compensation to the country whose economic futures were being plundered. Iran in '53 was looking at the incredible profits of the companies who developed the oil industries, yet hardly met their agreed payments to the country for being allowed to get rich off the resources they were given access to. This is still happening with globalization. Multinational corporations go into small countries with some agreement to have access to the resources, including cheap labor, and few restrictions on how they treat the employees, environment or invest some of the profit money in the country to help it gain it's own economic footing. It has been mentioned that countries operate on their own self-interest. They have reason to operate on enlightened self interest and do so far more than the corporations. Many figured this out and have formed coalitions to fight it. This book is important information Americans need to understand, in order to grasp the foreign policy deceptions that have been foisted on us by our government and the high profit media. James Pfiffner, professor of poli-sci at George Mason Univ, addressed presidential lying in a `99 essay (Presidential Studies Quarterly). He identified a hierarchy of presidential lying, some of which he considers justifiable: -Lying about personal matters that do not affect national policy or security. [Duh?] -Lying to foreign governments can be a necessary element of diplomacy. -Lying about matters of national security (Eisenhower denying U-2 flights over USSR) National security is where Pfiffner finds the worst errors because they are "lies of policy deception". The president says he is doing one thing, while in fact, the military, CIA, NSA or other agencies are doing something else. This is where he nails the issue for me: These lies are inexcusable because they deceive "the public about the direction of government policy" and deny voters the opportunity "to make an informed choice [which] undermines the premise of the democratic process". His examples are Johnson's escalation of the VN war and the Gulf of Tonkin deceptions. Nixon's secret bombing of Cambodia (14 months), and Reagan's lies about Iran/Contra. We need to develop the awareness in American voters about what has been done in our names, with our tax money; while being deceived about the real reasons - or even that we were doing it covertly- so we could not vote or contact our representatives. A variation of taxation without representation, let alone ignoring the grassroots American conviction that we don't support interfering with other countries governments. Kinzer's book is an excellent text for this enlightenment. I also consider it essential for dissemination on a much wider scale.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #63,464 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #27 in Iraq War History (Books) #195 in International & World Politics (Books) #341 in American Military History |
| Customer Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 stars 1,137 Reviews |

## Images

![Overthrow - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71T4y8m+fzL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Do As I Say, Not As I Do
*by P***H on July 22, 2017*

Most Americans are outraged by Russian interference in our 2016 election. That’s because we hold dear our right to self-determination without another country determining the outcome. On the other hand, the USA has a long history of not showing the same kind of respect for the self-determination of other nations that we expect for ourselves. This book describes in shocking detail the fourteen times our country has overthrown legitimate governments – some duly elected – around the world. This is not dry history, however; Kinzer’s retelling reads like a suspense novel. The first instance came in 1893 when the American ambassador in Hawaii conspired with American planters to overthrow the native government of Queen Liliuokalani. It took 100 years for the U.S. government to recognize the error of its ways. A resolution passed Congress and signed by President Clinton in 1993 states that Congress, “apologizes to native Hawaiians on behalf of the people of the United States for the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom on Jan. 17, 1893,” and for the subsequent “deprivation of the rights of Native Hawaiians to self-determination.” Unfortunately, there has been no similar apology to the peoples of Iran, Cuba, the Philippines, Nicaragua, Guatamala, Vietnam and Puerto Rico. Hawaii is the 50th state. If Puerto Rico ever becomes the 51st, perhaps then another apology will be forthcoming. Following Hawaii, the second overthrow came at the end of the Spanish-American War, when the McKinley administration decided to take control of several Spanish colonies, instead of liberating them to govern themselves. The “consent of the governed” did not matter to most Americans when it came to Cubans, Puerto Ricans and Filipinos. Before Congress agreed to declare war on Spain, the Teller Amendment had to be added to gain sufficient support. That Amendment declares that “the people of the island of Cuba are, and of right ought to be, free and independent. The United States hereby disclaims any disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said island.” Once the war ends. the USA intends “to leave the government and control of the island to its people.” Cuban rebels had been actively fighting Spanish rule three years, and they expected to gain their promised independence fighting alongside the Americans. Nonetheless, the Teller Amendment was quickly discarded at the end of the war as McKinley announced that the USA would rule Cuba. The new policy was embodied in the Platt Amendment of 1901, “a crucial document in the history of American foreign policy,” because versions of “plattismo” were subsequently applied to many nations in Central America and the Caribbean. Under this Amendment, which was adopted with only Republican votes, the USA agreed to end its occupation of Cuba as soon as Cubans accepted a constitution giving the U.S. the rights to maintain military bases, to supervise the treasury, and “the right to intervene for the preservation of Cuban independence or the maintenance of a government adequate for the protection of property and individual liberty.” Cubans weren’t the only Latin Americans denied self-determination. Similar domination happened to Nicaragua and Honduras, initially to protect the monopolies of a handful of American banana corporations. This interference led to generations of dictators, conflict and death. To this day, Honduras has the world’s highest murder rate, in part due to American policies. The greatest tragedy happened to the Philippines. The Filipino guerilla leader, Emilio Aguinaldo, understood that his people were promised their independence by Admiral Dewey, who later swore he made no such commitment. The USA paid $20 million to Spain for the islands. Meanwhile, the rebels had elected an assembly, produced a constitution, and proclaimed the independent Republic of the Philippines in 1899, with Aguinaldo as president. The new government was determined to defend its independence. McKinley had other plans. The war to suppress Philippine independence lasted three years and led to tens of thousands of deaths. Recent estimates put the total at 250,000. U.S. troops used torture and massacre of civilians suspected of aiding the guerillas. The New York Post wrote that American troops “have been pursuing a policy of wholesale and deliberate murder.” This war was one of the worst episodes in Filipino history. Filipinos were denied their independence until 1946. The first CIA overthrow of a foreign government was in Iran in 1953. The second came the following year in Guatamala. Both countries had democratically elected governments, and both were forcibly replaced by dictators – the Shah in one, and a former army officer in the other. The long-term effects were tragic. The next target for overthrow was in 1963 when JFK decided to remove the Diem regime that the USA had installed in South Vietnam. A friend of America, Diem was murdered and the war was lost anyway. Chile was the next target. The CIA had interfered in elections there since 1964 to prevent a socialist from winning. After Salvador Allende won, the CIA fomented his overthrow in 1973, installing a brutal dictator, Gen. Pinochet. Other targets were the governments in Grenada in 1983, Panama in 1989, and Iraq in 2003. Kinzer compares George W. Bush to William McKinley: both believed they were morally justified, and neither anticipated the deadly insurgencies that followed in the Philippines and in Iraq. “Do as I say, not as I do,” isn’t persuasive for children, much less to the rest of the world. American officials frequently assert the right to intervene militarily or otherwise whenever and where ever it is deemed in the American interest to do so, even to protect the interest of American corporations. “In almost every case,” writes Kinzer, “overthrowing the government of a foreign country, has, in the end, led both that country and the United States to grief.” Consequently, Americans should recognize the sources of anti-American resentment, and be less hypocritical in denouncing other nations who follow our example. If it’s wrong for others, then by what principle of international law is it justified when we do it? ###

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Paring history down to the essential lessons.
*by V***S on October 16, 2006*

I will not repeat the many excellent comments here except that Kinzer writes very well, making the read fascinating and factually solid. Other points: I think Kinzer made it fairly clear that the deposed leaders were not necessarily great or without flaws. The point is that when we went into these countries and replaced their democratically elected leaders with our puppet leaders, most of them turned out to be difficult to overthrow despots and tyrants. This left the fledgling democracies no chance to learn whether that elected official was good or bad, and gain more experience and time to develop their political parties and election processes. Instead, it repeatedly developed an environment where the only groups that could overthrow those puppets were fanatics and zealots, who grew out of the resentment of the American interference and the suffering of the country under quasi American rule. Besides, who are we to point fingers at the less than perfect elected leaders of other countries? The economic aspects of the overthrows were clearly an essential part of the pattern. However Kinzer stresses that the politicians had their own geo-political reasons for stepping in - often using the nationalization of companies as an excuse to hide their motives. The nationalization process is often misunderstood and Kinzer did a very good job of pointing out this rarely had much to do with anything but mild socialism. Instead, it was a response to the centuries of imperialism that allowed developed countries to take over so much of the underdeveloped world - almost exclusively those that had valuable resources to develop. During that phase, many companies became international power houses by developing those resources and selling them - with minimal compensation to the country whose economic futures were being plundered. Iran in '53 was looking at the incredible profits of the companies who developed the oil industries, yet hardly met their agreed payments to the country for being allowed to get rich off the resources they were given access to. This is still happening with globalization. Multinational corporations go into small countries with some agreement to have access to the resources, including cheap labor, and few restrictions on how they treat the employees, environment or invest some of the profit money in the country to help it gain it's own economic footing. It has been mentioned that countries operate on their own self-interest. They have reason to operate on enlightened self interest and do so far more than the corporations. Many figured this out and have formed coalitions to fight it. This book is important information Americans need to understand, in order to grasp the foreign policy deceptions that have been foisted on us by our government and the high profit media. James Pfiffner, professor of poli-sci at George Mason Univ, addressed presidential lying in a `99 essay (Presidential Studies Quarterly). He identified a hierarchy of presidential lying, some of which he considers justifiable: -Lying about personal matters that do not affect national policy or security. [Duh?] -Lying to foreign governments can be a necessary element of diplomacy. -Lying about matters of national security (Eisenhower denying U-2 flights over USSR) National security is where Pfiffner finds the worst errors because they are "lies of policy deception". The president says he is doing one thing, while in fact, the military, CIA, NSA or other agencies are doing something else. This is where he nails the issue for me: These lies are inexcusable because they deceive "the public about the direction of government policy" and deny voters the opportunity "to make an informed choice [which] undermines the premise of the democratic process". His examples are Johnson's escalation of the VN war and the Gulf of Tonkin deceptions. Nixon's secret bombing of Cambodia (14 months), and Reagan's lies about Iran/Contra. We need to develop the awareness in American voters about what has been done in our names, with our tax money; while being deceived about the real reasons - or even that we were doing it covertly- so we could not vote or contact our representatives. A variation of taxation without representation, let alone ignoring the grassroots American conviction that we don't support interfering with other countries governments. Kinzer's book is an excellent text for this enlightenment. I also consider it essential for dissemination on a much wider scale.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Overthrow by Stephen Kinzer
*by J***Y on May 22, 2025*

This is a fascinating book about all the countries the US has overthrown beginning with Alaska and ending with Iraq. The only reason I didn't give this book a five star rating is because the reader may become exhausted over the repetition. By repetition I'm referring to how our country has minimized other countries beliefs and by covert operations or invasion, destroyed relationships. One may become weary to the point of thinking, oh no not again! The author presented great detail and explanation as well as the author's summary of events. So, I'm not blaming the author, I'm blaming our country. We have entered into covert operations over threats by foreign countries, or more accuratly, perceived threats, to outright miss reading the tea leaves. And every other reason one can think of such as transportation, lumber, bananas, Pepsi and of course oil, to name a few. We have invaded because of poor intelligence or perhaps just to show the world how strong we may be. The only element we have been consistent in; is how we left these countries. Usually destroyed and defenseless from the internal parasites that pop their heads up once we leave. We have succeeded in leaving these countries, at best, only a bit better for a short time. Now they have no infrastructure, no single governing body and opportunities for those wishing to rob the country of resources and a sustainable economy. So, yes this book is worth reading. I very much enjoy this author's writings and literary style. His research is phenomenal. I have read at least five of his books thus far.

## Frequently Bought Together

- Overthrow
- The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret World War
- All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror

---

## Why Shop on Desertcart?

- 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016
- 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories
- 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price
- 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members)
- 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection
- ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews

**Shop now:** [https://cambodia.desertcart.com/products/3422331-overthrow](https://cambodia.desertcart.com/products/3422331-overthrow)

---

*Product available on Desertcart Cambodia*
*Store origin: KH*
*Last updated: 2026-09-15*