IN BRIEF: RECENT ARRIVALS

Colossus: The Price of America's Empire, by Niall Ferguson, Penguin Press, 384 pages, $38Ferguson, a leading and sometimes controversial young British historian, argues counter-intuitively that the United States is most certainly an empire, and ought to take its imperial duties more seriously. Despite overwhelming military, economic and cultural dominance, the United States is reluctant to employ its power most effectively. Not that Ferguson is necessarily opposed to that empire, though he would prefer that it be dedicated to the free-market values he espouses. Not only that, but he believes that in the current parlous state of the world, empire is even necessary to "contain epidemics, depose tyrants, end local wars and eradicate terrorist organizations," and that it is even incumbent upon the world's only superpower to lead the world toward more democracy and greater economic growth, including supplying money, expertise and troops when necessary.