Book Club Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:
• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)
Also consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for The Imperial Cruise:
1. Racism is a central theme in Bradley's book. In what way did racist perceptions on the part of President Roosevelt distort his foreign policy?
2. What were some of the academic and philosophical influences on Roosevelt's attitudes toward race?
3. Bradley writes, "One after another, white Christian males in America’s finest universities 'discovered’ that the Aryan was God’s highest creation, that the Negro was designed for servitude and that the Indian was doomed to extinction." In your opinion, does the fact that this thinking was common for the time exculpate Roosevelt and his contemporaries' belief in white supremacy?
4. Discuss the "Japanese Monroe Doctrine." For whose benefit was it proposed, and what was the rationale behind it?
5. What was Roosevelt's purpose in encouraging a Japanese takeover of Korea?
6. Ultimately, what were the consequences of the Japanese Monroe Doctrine? Over time, according to Bradley, how did it drive Japan's foreign policy goals?
7. Referring to the Russo-Japanese war, Roosevelt wrote to his son in February, 1904, that "I was thoroughly well pleased with the Japanese victory, playing our game." What did he mean?
8. Why did Roosevelt push for Japan to forgo indemnity after the war? What precipitated the Tokyo riots When the Treaty of Portsmouth was announced?
9. Talk about the ways in which Bradley presents America as an imperialist power, particularly with regards to Hawaii and the Philippines. Is The Imperial Cruise persuasive in its vision of history repeating itself later in the 20th and 21st centuries?
10. Contrast Roosevelt's differing attitudes toward the Russian people and the Japanese. Why did he consider the latter "natural leaders"? What, in particular, did he admire in the Japanese culture? And why would Japan have been so eager to adopt Western values?
11. In your opinion, was Roosevelt deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize?
12. Were you surprised to learn that what we now refer to as "waterboarding" was used during Roosevelt's time? Does its long-term practice lend it legitimacy in your view...or not?
13. What if anything have you learned by reading The Imperial Cruise? Has it altered your view of Theodore Roosevelt or the history of American foreign policy?
14. Does Bradley make a convincing case for the long reach of Roosevelt's actions? Can Roosevelt be held responsible for the long-term unintended consequences of his foreign policy? Why...or why not?
15. The book has sometimes been criticized for its at times casual, almost flippant, and sarcastic tone. For you, does that style and tone detract grom Bradley's overall message? Or does it make his work more readable and engaging?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)
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