Empire's Tracks: Indigenous Nations, Chinese Workers, and the Transcontinental Railroad

Empire's Tracks boldly reframes the history of the transcontinentalrailroad from the perspectives of the Cheyenne, Lakota, and Pawnee Native American tribes, and the Chinese migrants whotoiled on its path. In this meticulously researched book, ManuKaruka situates the railroad within the violent global histories ofcolonialism and capitalism. Through an examination of legislative, military, and business records, Karuka deftly explains theimperialfoundations of U.S. political economy. Tracing the shared paths of Indigenous and Asian American histories, this multisitedinterdisciplinary study connects military occupation to exclusionaryborder policies, a linked chain spanning the heart of U.S. imperialism.This highly original and beautifully wrought book unveils how thetranscontinental railroad laid the tracks of the U.S. Empire.