The World and William Walker

"The World and William Walker" offers insight into an oddly obscure phase of American history - oddly obscure because so many important things happened during this time. Between the Mexican-American War of the mid-1840s and the U.S. Civil War, foreign policy was often practiced privately, through "filibusters" - mercenaries who would serve a private or sectional interest, achieve a given military goal, and allow their sponsors to force the federal government to accept the fait accomplit - and strike the appropriate diplomatic bargain with the British. William Walker, the best known of the filibusters, found himself dictator of Nicaragua through the actions of just such a private army. Yet Walker himself was an anomaly, because he was, underneath everything, a wild-eyed idealist, setting him on a collision course with his sponsors, alienating the ithmus-transportation king Cornelius Vanderbilt and leaving the United States to abandon him to his fate before a firing squad. Carr tells the story of Walker's Nicaraguan adventure in graphic detail; we also trace back to his earlier plans to invade Mexico, his days as a newspaper publisher in San Francisco and, earlier still, to his birthplace in Tennessee. Comprehensive and engaging biography.

For those who have not heard of William Walker, he was a freebooter or filibuster that tried to colonize Central America for the U.S.A.. He tried to introduce slavery into Nicaragua. He tried to detach Baja California from Mexico. He was a lawyer, doctor, journalist, politician, and military man.Carr does a good job of detailing the life of a much misunderstood man. Walker held many progressive visions for Central America. Although not a soldier, he was brave in the face of grerat odds, and won many military victories. His try at the introduction of slavery into Nicaragua was an inducement to southern interests to invest in the country, and when this did not happen, Walker dropped it. Otherwise, he was a progressive leader in this country. His only fault was his irritation of both the Pierce and Buchanan presidencies, his opposition to British colonial efforts, and the Vanderbilt business interests in Nicaragua. Carr details these misunderstandings, and clears them up. Walker's efforts were not evil, but sypathetic to the population of Central America. If he had suceeded, Central America might be a part of the United States, or unified, rather than broken up into seven countries. Walker cannot be seen as good or evil but rather as a man who had faults but tried for the betterment of people.Carr does a good job detailing the man and showing the history of Nicaragua in the 1850s. This is a worthwhile read.