U.S.-Panamanian relations have been a traditional focus of Panamanian historiography, quite logically given the strategic location of the isthmus and its legacy of North American interventions. In 1953 Ernesto Castillero Pimentel published one of the earliest and most complete studies of the problematic interactions between the two countries. Walter LaFeber followed with his important work in 1978, and more recently John Major and Michael Conniff offered their assessments of this difficult relationship, tracing it from the construction of the transisthmian railroad in the 1850s to the late twentieth century and the U.S. exit from Panama. In contrast, John Lindsay-Poland’s book does not provide an all-inclusive study of the disputes and ties between the two nations. “It is not,” as he writes, “a comprehensive military or diplomatic history” (p. 3). Nevertheless, in this impressive work, Lindsay-Poland extends significantly our understanding of U.S. influence in Panama, by examining the impact of the U.S. military.While political and economic conflicts have been focus of earlier studies, Lindsay-Poland’s topic is what he describes as the isthmus’ “hidden history”: “the environmental effects of the U.S. military’s presence in Panama” (p. 2). Lindsay-Poland moves beyond the concerns of older studies, including treaty negotiations and Panama’s national sovereignty, and brings attention to this previously neglected consequence of U.S. imperialism. This novel approach arises from the author’s own life. In the 1990s, Lindsay-Poland became deeply involved in grassroots efforts to pressure the United States to clean up its bases in Panama before their return to local jurisdiction. As the author himself recounts, these efforts were unsuccessful, and innumerable toxins and explosives remained in Panama following the U.S. departure. Emperors in the Jungle is thus the work of a committed activist who argues for U.S. compensation for severe environmental damage. Not with-standing this advocacy, the book offers a convincing history. Written in a clear and fluid style, the text is based primarily on government documents and interviews and provides some of the most innovative ideas regarding U.S.-Panamanian relations, particularly in regard to imperialist thinking and its environmental impact.Lindsay-Poland begins his study in the mid–nineteenth century and traces the military’s involvement from its first landings in Panama to its eventual withdrawal from the isthmus in December 1999. Through this extended period, the author describes “several key episodes” to illustrate his central thesis regarding the effects of U.S. interventionism (p. 3). Topics include the racist segregation and sanitation of the Canal Zone, the decades-long testing and disposal of chemical weapons, and U.S. plans to use nuclear weapons to build a sea-level canal. Lindsay-Poland also treats the U.S. campaign to topple Noriega, as well as the 1999 withdrawal and its aftermath. Drawing on these historical moments, the author paints a picture of U.S. arrogance and suggests that Panamanians, to some degree, have internalized North American attitudes, as reflected in their neoliberal “mania” for redeveloping the former bases (p. 172). Today Panamanian authorities “prioritize the interests of the international shipping industry over those of . . . Panama’s tropical environment and marginalized communities” (p. 174). This manner of thinking, the author posits, is a legacy of the U.S. presence, specifically the military’s mindset and identity.Drawing on the ideas of George Black and Fredrick Pike, Lindsay-Poland argues that U.S. officers saw themselves as “rational and scientific” actors and thought of the Panamanian environment as an “obstacle to civilization.” From their arrival, they viewed tropics as a dangerous “enemy” whose riotous qualities they would have to subdue with their superior knowledge. At the same time, they identified Panama’s population with the surroundings, “so that perceptions of one were often conflated with the other” (pp. 3, 4). Especially important in this regard was the influence of scientific racism, so prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and which slandered people of color as inferior and incapable of progress. Given the central role of the military, these attitudes were of enormous consequence. Lindsay-Poland suggests that the officers were like “emperors in the jungle,” the “dominant U.S. actor in bilateral relations,” and regarded as nearly “untouchable” by the Panamanians (p. 7). The result was a series of morally dubious policies, described as both “environmentally and socially destructive” (p. 3). Particularly alarming is the book’s most convincing section, which documents U.S. attempts to conceal dangerous materials left behind on its former bases. The book concludes with a fascinating afterword by Panamanian scholar Guillermo Castro, who calls on his fellow citizens to reexamine their culture and confront the legacies of the U.S. militarism. “On that path toward ourselves,” he insists, “John Lindsay-Poland has been and will be a welcome friend” (p. 210).