Product Description

On September 11, 2001, hours after the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, the eminent military historian Victor Davis Hanson wrote an article in which he asserted that the United States, like it or not, was now at war and had the moral right to respond with force. An Autumn of War, which opens with that first essay, will stimulate readers across the political spectrum to think more deeply about the attacks, the war, and their lessons for all of us.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #507458 in Books
• Published on: 2002-08-13
• Released on: 2002-08-13
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

From Publishers Weekly
"Why do they hate us?" is the wrong question to ask after September 11, writes Hanson; war and tragedy are to be expected, as the ancients knew. Hanson's classicism informs this collection of essays that appeared mostly on National Review Online, presented here chronologically, from September (when, he argues, "we had no choice but to counterattack long and hard") through December 2001, when he considers the implications of that counterattack. Liberals beware: Hanson has no patience for these who believe the condition of the world can be ameliorated. (On sale Aug. 13)
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Hanson, classics professor at California State University at Fresno, writes a biweekly column for National Review Online. The terrorist attacks of September 11 prompted him to compose a series of essays, which appeared in various newspapers and magazines, covering that "landmark event in American history, if not the most calamitous day in our nation's 225 years." He now puts those essays together in book form as a "record of emerging events" as they were happening. Hanson nimbly and assuredly discusses such provocative topics as "class as an indicator of America's differing political responses to September 11" and the fact that "the misery of the Middle East" is not "simply a result of widespread failure to adapt free institutions, democracy, [and] open markets." No one can draw complete, definite conclusions about September 11 and the subsequent war against terrorism without carefully considering the ideas articulately explored here. Brad Hooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
“Bold and politically incorrect, An Autumn of War is like a breath of fresh air in pointing to the real causes of terrorist outrages and the need for a decisive response.” —Richard Pipes, author of The Russian Revolution

“Victor Hanson is a national treasure. No one has written with such great prescience about the present war or more accurately predicted the course of events, on the fighting front, at home, and around the world. His wisdom arises from a deep knowledge and understanding of history, ancient and modern. His uncanny accuracy in prediction comes from a full and clear grasp of the facts and the application to them of an informed understanding of human nature and of the character of war. All this he presents in clear, vigorous, and eloquent prose. Every American needs to learn from him." —Donald Kagan, author of On the Origins of War and the Preservation of Peace

“Together with John Keegan, [Hanson] is our most interesting historian of war.” —Jean Bethke Elshtain, author of Women and War

Customer Reviews

The Long View....
2002's "An Autumn of War" is a collection of essays by California Professor of Classics Victor Davis Hanson, written in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. Hanson, a frequent writer on ancient Greece, has in more recent times expanded his output to include histories of the Western way of war and conservative political commentary.

Hanson brings a longer perspective to the global war on terrorism, the enduring truths dating back to ancient times that wars are inherently messy, produce casualties both military and civilian, often lead in unexpected directions, and sometimes bring out the best in people. He takes a number of commentators to task for their defeatism in the wake of 9/11 and their hypercriticism of every action undertaken by the Bush Administration to combat terrorism.

Hanson very precisely identifies that our radical Islamic opponents are not open to negotiation. Their belief finds democracy to be contrary to the Sharia; they offer us a choice of conversion to their brand of Islam, submission, or death. America can fight back or let them have their way. Hanson has no patience with those in the so-called cultural elites who were quick to blame America for the 9/11 attacks and who obcessed over the harsh language of war or refused to see the possibilities as well as the dangers of carrying the fight to the enemy.

Hanson's essays hold up well almost seven years into the fight against radical Islam. They are worth reviewing for a reminder of how far we have come, or failed to come, in our public discourse over the global war on terrorism. The reader need not agree with Hanson's every opinion to appreciate the strength of his logic and the longer perspective of his point of view.

A positive perspective on this bloody challenge
If you feel wobbly about our war with the terrorists who attacked us, these essays will help stiffen your spine. I subtract a star for the inability of the author to insert direct personal experience as warrior in these uplifting essays.

Good book for the critical thinker

An Autumn of War provides excellent insight into the reactions of the American people after the attacks of 9/11. When seeing the rubble of the World Trade Center and the desperate innocent civilians jumping to their deaths from the windows in the upper stories of the building, it is difficult imagining any person of the free world opposing a counter-attack on bin Laden. What followed, however, with our continued conflict in Iraq, is a different story. The essays included in this book were written in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, from September to December 2001. Victor Davis Hanson is a fantastic historian, but I question if the book might have had greater value had it been written and published today, five years later. In light of what has happened since the attack, some of his reasoning seems a bit shortsighted and some analogies not quite right, for example, the idea that we were attacked because the Islamic world envies our freedom. Might they have attacked us instead because of more self-serving motives, for example, because they feel that our lifestyle, particularly the ease with which electronic information is transmitted via the Internet, is an intrusion in their world, where they wish to maintain the status quo that allows a few select people in power to control the masses?

I also feel that the analogy made between the ease with which we defeated Nazi Germany and Japan in World War II, and the supposed ease with which we will defeat the terrorists, is not a good analogy, because when we defeated Nazi Germany and Japan, we defeated a country's government, its central establishment. The terrorists and insurgents are not necessarily sanctioned by their country's government, and are difficult to attack with bombs and other weapons because they lack a centralized leadership. Five years have passed, bin Laden is still at large, and the threat of terrorism is still discussed on a daily basis in the news. Whether or not we have been successful in our war on terror depends on how we define success.

This is an excellent book for those seeking a controversial issue on which to practice their critical thinking skills, yet less impressive than Hanson's other works.