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Dumpty: The Age of Trump in Verse (Dumpty Ser. #1)
By John Lithgow. 2019
New York Times Bestseller!Dumpty: The Age of Trump in Verse is Volume 1 of a satirical poetry collection from award-winning…
actor and bestselling author John Lithgow. Chronicling the last few raucous years in American politics, Lithgow takes readers verse by verse through the history of Donald Trump's presidency.• Lampoons the likes of Betsy DeVos, William Barr, Rudy Giuliani, and dozens more.• Illustrated from cover to cover with Lithgow's never-before-seen line drawings.• Draws inspiration from A. A. Milne, Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear, and even Mother Goose.• Great for fans of A Very Stable Genius by Mike Luckovich, Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don't Matter by Scott Adams, and The Donald J. Trump Presidential Twitter Library by The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.The poems collected in Dumpty draw inspiration from A. A. Milne, Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Mother Goose, and many more. A feat of laugh-out-loud lyrical storytelling, this timely volume is bound to bring joy to poetry lovers, political junkies, and Lithgow fans alike. Audio edition read by the author.Activist: Portraits of Courage
By Kk Ottesen. 2019
A speech on the radio. A high school literature class. A promise made to a mother.Activism begins in small ways…
and in unexpected places. In this inspiring book, over forty activists from Billie Jean King to Senator Bernie Sanders and Grover Norquist to Al Sharpton recount the experiences that sparked their journeys and share the beliefs that keep them going. These are citizens who met challenge with action. Their visions for peace, equality, and justice have reshaped American society—from voting to reproductive rights, and from the environment to the economy.• Brings together multiple generations from different (sometimes opposite perspectives)• Features KK Ottesen's luminous photographs revealing passion, purpose and optimism• Powerful narratives that collective remind us that anyone can take the future into their own handsFans of 1960Now, Martha Rosler: Irrespective, and Charles White: A Retrospective will love this book. This book is perfect for:• Activists, old and new• Politically engaged readers • Photography fans• MillennialsForgotten Crimes: The Holocaust And People With Disabilities
By Suzanne E. Evans. 2004
Between 1939 and 1945 the Nazi regime systematically murdered hundreds of thousands of children and adults with disabilities as part…
of its "euthanasia" programs. These programs were designed to eliminate all persons with disabilities who, according to Nazi ideology, threatened the health and purity of the German race. Forgotten Crimes explores the development and workings of this nightmarish process, a relatively neglected aspect of the Holocaust. Suzanne Evans's account draws on the rich historical record as well as scores of exclusive interviews with disabled Holocaust survivors. It begins with a description of the Nazis' Children's Killing Program, in which tens of thousands of children with mental and physical disabilities were murdered by their physicians, usually by starvation or lethal injection. The book goes on to recount the T4 euthanasia program, in which adults with disabilities were disposed of in six official centers, and the development of the Sterilization Law that allowed the forced sterilization of at least a half-million young adults with disabilities. Ms. Evans provides portraits of the perpetrators and accomplices of the killing programs, and investigates the curious role of Switzerland's rarely discussed exclusionary immigration and racially eugenic policies. Finally, Forgotten Crimes notes the inescapable implications of these Nazi medical practices for our present-day controversies over eugenics, euthanasia, genetic engineering, medical experimentation, and rationed health care.The Total State: How Liberal Democracies Become Tyrannies
By Auron MacIntyre. 2024
The Total State pulls back the veil on the new American authoritarianism and why the same system of liberal democracy…
we say we cherish may have led us to our present state The modern United States is a nation full of censorship, lockdowns, riots, and political persecution. How did the land of the free become a surveillance state terrified of COVID and ruled by unaccountable bureaucrats? As a journalist, Auron MacIntyre witnessed firsthand the manipulation of news events, the bias of the press, and the relentless assault on truth during the Donald Trump presidency. Yet, it wasn't until the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 that his worldview was irrevocably shaken. The emergency measures and unchecked power wielded by authorities revealed a dark underbelly that defied the constitutional safeguards he had always believed in.The Total State delves into the core of MacIntyre's ideological crisis, exploring the erosion of individual liberties in the name of public health and the new brand of American authoritarianism that revealed itself under a state of emergency. Drawing inspiration from a diverse array of thinkers outside the mainstream, MacIntyre questions the narrative that has been ingrained in our political discourse. What if democracy doesn&’t limit government but instead helps it to expand? What if the Constitution failed to restrain power as intended?The Total State doesn't offer easy answers, but it poses essential questions about the trajectory of our nation. MacIntyre meticulously examines the forces that have shaped our current reality, urging readers to confront uncomfortable truths about the state of our democracy and individual freedom. This thought-provoking exploration is a call to action, encouraging readers to understand the roots of our present predicament and contemplate the challenging path forward.Say More: Lessons from Work, the White House, and the World
By Jen Psaki. 2024
Former White House Press Secretary and current MSNBC host Jen Psaki shares the surprising lessons she&’s learned on her path…
to success and offers unique yet universal advice about how to be a more effective communicator in any situation.Not many White House Press Secretaries capture the nation&’s interest the way Jen Psaki did. Refreshingly candid and clear, Psaki quickly became known for her ability to break through the noise and successfully deliver her message. In her highly anticipated book, Psaki shares her journey to the Briefing Room and beyond, taking readers along the campaign trail, to the State Department, and inside the White House under two Presidents. With her signature wit, Psaki writes about reporting to bosses from the hot-tempered Rahm Emanuel to the coolly intellectual Barack Obama to the surprisingly tenderhearted John Kerry. She also talks about her time working closely with President Joe Biden from the start of his administration to set a new tone for the country, restoring a sense of calm and respect for the role of the media in our Democracy. Since leaving the White House, Psaki&’s star has continued to rise. She launched a highly rated show on MSNBC and was so successful that in just six months she was given an additional primetime Monday slot, ahead of Rachel Maddow. And Psaki&’s work doesn&’t end at the office. She is the mother of two young children and shares her stories about the journey of communicating as a parent: During one bedtime briefing, her young daughter asked the question, &“Why do wars start?&”, which Jen carefully explained and then got a follow up: &“Have you ever seen a unicorn?&” In Say More, Psaki explains her straightforward approach to communication, walking readers through difficult conversations as well as moments where humor saves the day—whether it is with preschoolers, partners, or presidents. She addresses the best ways to give and receive feedback, how to connect with your audience, how to listen actively, and much more. Say More is the book Psaki wishes she had when she started her career, and is a trove of entertaining, essential lessons from one of the most prominent voices in American politics today.The Wolves of K Street: The Secret History of How Big Money Took Over Big Government
By Brody Mullins, Luke Mullins. 2024
Two veteran investigative journalists trace the rise of the modern lobbying industry through the three dynasties—one Republican, two Democratic—that have…
enabled corporate interests to infiltrate American politics and undermine our democracy.On K Street, a few blocks from the White House, you&’ll find the offices of the most powerful men in Washington. In the 1970s, the city&’s center of gravity began to shift away from elected officials in big marble buildings to a handful of savvy, handsomely paid operators who didn&’t answer to any fixed constituency. The cigar-chomping son of a powerful Congressman, an illustrious political fixer with a weakness for modern art, a Watergate-era dirty trickster, the city&’s favorite cocktail party host…these were the sorts of men who now ran Washington. Over four decades, they&’d chart new ways to turn their clients&’ cash into political leverage, abandoning favor-trading in smoke-filled rooms for increasingly sophisticated tactics like &“shadow lobbying,&” where underground campaigns sparked seemingly organic public outcries to pressure lawmakers into taking actions that would ultimately benefit corporate interests rather than the common good. With billions of dollars at play, these lobbying dynasties enshrined in Washington a pro-business consensus that would guide the country&’s political leaders—Democrats and Republicans alike—allowing companies to flourish even as ordinary Americans buckled under the weight of stagnant wages, astronomical drug prices, unsafe home loans, and digital monopolies. A good lobbyist could kill even a piece of legislation supported by the president, both houses of Congress, and a majority of Americans. Yet, nothing lasts forever. Amidst a populist backlash to the soaring inequality these lobbyists helped usher in, Washington&’s pro-business alliance suddenly began to unravel. And while new ways for corporations to control the federal government would emerge, the men who&’d once built K Street found themselves under legal scrutiny and on the verge of financial collapse. One had his namesake firm ripped away by his own colleagues. Another watched his business shut down altogether. One went to prison. And one was found dead behind the 18th green of an exclusive golf club, with a bottle of $1,500 wine at his feet and a bullet in his head. A dazzling and infuriating portrait of fifty years of corporate influence in Washington, The Wolves of K Street is a masterpiece of narrative nonfiction—irresistibly dramatic, spectacularly timely, explosive in its revelations, and absolutely impossible to put down.Black Meme: A History of The Images That Make Us
By Legacy Russell. 2024
"Unsettles, expands and deepens our understanding of the black meme...necessary reading; brilliant and utterly convincing."–Christina Sharpe, author of Ordinary Notes"You…
will be galvanized by Legacy Russell&’s analytic brilliance and visceral eloquence." –Margo Jefferson, author of Constructing a Nervous SystemA history of Black imagery that recasts our understanding of visual culture and technology In Black Meme, Legacy Russell, award-winning author of the groundbreaking Glitch Feminism, explores the &“meme&” as mapped to Black visual culture from 1900 to the present, mining both archival and contemporary media. Russell argues that without the contributions of Black people, digital culture would not exist in its current form. These meditations include the circulation of lynching postcards; why a mother allowed Jet magazine to publish a picture of her dead son, Emmett Till; and how the televised broadcast of protesters in Selma changed the debate on civil rights. Questions of the media representation of Blackness come to the fore as Russell considers how a citizen-recorded footage of the LAPD beating Rodney King became the first viral video. And the Anita Hill hearings shed light on the media&’s creation of the Black icon. The ownership of Black imagery and death is considered in the story of Tamara Lanier&’s fight to reclaim the daguerreotypes of her enslaved ancestors from Harvard. Meanwhile the live broadcast on Facebook of the murder of Philando Castile by the police after he was stopped for a broken taillight forces us to bear witness to the persistent legacy of the Black meme. Through imagery, memory and technology Black Meme shows us how images of Blackness have always been central to our understanding of the modern world.FOUR PRESIDENTS Kennedy, Nixon, Biden, Trump: Leaders Who Changed History in Changing Times
By Douglas E Schoen. 2023
Fire in the Hole!: The Untold Story of My Traumatic Life and Explosive Success
By Bob Parsons. 2024
In Fire in the Hole!, Bob Parsons, founder of GoDaddy, shares his story of extraordinary success as a self-made serial…
entrepreneur.Born in the tough town of East Baltimore to parents who were inveterate gamblers, billionaire philanthropist Bob Parsons' early years were marked by hardship and financial struggle. While he vowed his own children would never lack for anything, never did he imagine the wealth he would one day amass as the founder of Parsons Technology, GoDaddy, PXG Golf, and YAM Worldwide. In his literary debut, Fire in the Hole!, this extraordinary entrepreneur recounts the exploits of his youth, his hellish days at the mercy of Catholic school nuns, his harrowing tour of combat duty in Vietnam as a US Marine, his pioneering contributions to the software and internet industries, and his latest ventures in power sports, golf, real estate, and marketing. Along the way, we witness his remarkable resilience as he copes with his mother&’s mental illness and his father&’s struggles, battles PTSD resulting from both his childhood and war traumas, and mounts a quest to find new and effective treatments for himself and others who suffer from this affliction. He strongly supports veterans organizations, and believing in the concept of paying it forward, has awarded grants to more than ninety-six charities and organizations worldwide through the Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation. Perhaps the only thing that has come easy to Parsons is his gift for storytelling. His reflections are at turns heartbreaking, heartwarming, hilarious, and inspiring. If ever there were a story about a self-made man whose wealth can be measured as much by the contents of his heart as by the contents of his bank account, this is it. More than anything, Fire in the Hole! is a "can't put down," damn good read!America is now engulfed in a crisis that goes to the very foundations of its democracy. To destroy Americans&’ pride…
in their heritage and undermine their will to defend it, the attacks on America&’s heritage begin with malicious slanders intended to turn the American dream of equality and freedom into a &“white supremacist&” nightmare. We are told America, from its inception, has been a &“racist&” nation that treats minorities as less than human. We are told America deserves to be destroyed. This destructive lie is now the official doctrine of the Biden White House, the &“woke&” Pentagon, the Democratic Senate, and the curricula of American schools. America Betrayed restores the true history of America&’s achievements and its role as a beacon of freedom. Framed by an account of Martin Luther&’s history and ideas, David Horowitz demonstrates that racial progress in America originates not from Leftist policy but from its founding ideals. America Betrayed is a history and a manifesto focused on the current war to save our country and restore the dignity and freedom of the individual.Former special assistant to President Trump, New York Times bestselling author, and evangelical Christian Cliff Sims shares the lessons he learned on…
faith, politics, and the Christian witness while working in the halls of power. American life today is consumed by politics. Even our churches are tearing themselves apart over political candidates, cultural flashpoints, and debates about whether certain pastors are vessels for the Holy Spirit or an unholy political agenda. So how should Christians approach our lives in this time of strife and division? How should we engage in politics and respond when we find that our beliefs are at odds with the culture? And how do we keep our focus on eternity when the present attractions of the world are there in front of us at every turn? Cliff Sims, the son of a Baptist minister and man of deep Christian faith, has walked the halls of power, serving as a Special Assistant to President Trump and Deputy Director of National Intelligence. While working at the highest levels of the American government, he experienced firsthand the cutthroat world of power politics, an environment that can test the character of any follower of Jesus, and he wrestled continually with how to live out his faith. In this book, Cliff shares hard-earned wisdom from his time serving in government, giving Christians lessons on how to live faithfully and with integrity. Recounting stories from the West Wing, Air Force One, and top secret bunkers, Sims offers practical advice and biblical insight on how to let the light of Christ shine in our dark world, regardless of our politics. The Darkness Has Not Overcome is a must-read for every Christian who has found themselves exasperated by politics, fearful about the future, or discouraged by the times in which we live.The New York Times bestselling author, governor of South Dakota, and former congresswoman tells eye-opening stories of DC dysfunction, shares…
lessons from leading her state through unprecedented challenge, and explains how we seize this moment to move America forward. Any elected official can talk about how broken our government is. But their solutions always seem to involve more money, new programs—and reelection to another term. Few offer an unfiltered glimpse into how government actually works, empowering citizens with the knowledge to be part of the solution. Governor Kristi Noem never planned on being in politics. But her concern for our nation compelled her, on a local, national, and global level. Because she took a different path into public service, as a concerned mom and rancher, her insights help every citizen understand how positive change really happens, despite the dysfunction in Washington DC. Governor Noem explains how the country is not going back to the Republican party of the 2000s. And that&’s a good thing. This book is packed with surprising stories and practical lessons from the front lines of the battle. And she names names. A lot has changed since 2016, and based on her accomplishments in Congress and as Governor, no one is better equipped than Kristi Noem to explain the tremendous opportunities this opens up for every American.La economía política de una expansión segmentada: Política social latinoamericana en la primera década del siglo XXI (Elements in Politics and Society in Latin America)
By Null Camila Arza, Null Rossana Castiglioni, null Juliana Martínez Franzoni, Null Sara Niedzwiecki, Null Jennifer Pribble, null Diego Sánchez-Ancochea. 2024
Los primeros años del siglo XXI fueron un período de expansión de la política social en América Latina. Se crearon…
nuevos programas en salud, jubilaciones y pensiones, y asistencia social, y se incorporaron grupos previamente excluidos de las políticas existentes. ¿Cuál fue el carácter de esta expansión de la política social? ¿Por qué experimentó la región esta transformación? A partir de una revisión de un amplio número de artículos y libros, mostramos que los avances de la política social en la primera década del siglo XXI se mantuvieron segmentados, con diferencias en los niveles de acceso y beneficio, brechas en la calidad de los servicios y disparidad entre los sectores de política. Argumentamos que esta “expansión segmentada” fue el resultado de una combinación de características de la democracia a corto y largo plazo, condiciones económicas favorables y legados de política. El análisis revela que quienes estudian la política social latinoamericana han generado nuevos conceptos e importantes teorías que propician nuestra comprensión de las constantes preguntas sobre el desarrollo y el cambio del estado de bienestar.The Damascus Events: The 1860 Massacre and the Making of the Modern Middle East
By Eugene Rogan. 2024
An award-winning scholar&’s account of an ancient city&’s descent into unprecedented communal violence—an event that would mark the end of…
the old Ottoman order and the beginning of the modern Middle East On July 9, 1860, a violent mob swept through the Christian quarters of Damascus. For eight days, violence raged, leaving five thousand Christians dead, thousands of shops looted, and churches, houses, and monasteries razed. The sudden and ferocious outbreak shocked the world, leaving Syrian Christians vulnerable and fearing renewed violence. Drawn from never-before-seen eyewitness accounts of the Damascus Events, eminent Middle East historian Eugene Rogan tells the story of how a peaceful multicultural city came to be engulfed in slaughter. He traces how rising tensions between Muslim and Christian communities led some to regard extermination as a reasonable solution. Rogan also narrates the wake of this disaster, and how the Ottoman government moved quickly to retake control of the city, end the violence, and reintegrate Christians into the community. These efforts to rebuild Damascus proved successful, preserving peace for the next 150 years until 2011. The Damascus Events offers a vivid history, one that masterfully uncovers the outbreak of violence that unmade a great city and examines the possibility, even after searing conflict and unimaginable tragedy, of repair.Turkey: The Second Republic (The Contemporary Middle East)
By Birol Başkan, Burak Bilgehan Özpek. 2024
Focused on the rise of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) over the last two decades, this book discusses and…
contextualizes key events and developments in Turkish politics, economics and foreign policy.The authors begin by exploring the longer-term historical trends that shaped the country, focusing on Ottoman and Republican legacies, culminating in the formation of the modern state in Turkey. This context, it is argued, is key in understanding the AKP’s emergence since 2002 as the preeminent political power. The book further argues that the AKP achieved this position due to political maneuvers aimed at undermining military influence within politics, its management of the economy and its approach to foreign policy. These three domains are dealt with in successive chapters to help explicate how the AKP built broad societal coalitions and consolidated its power. The book concludes by analyzing contemporary developments: in the face of mounting economic and political challenges, the fate of the AKP, and of Turkey, remain uncertain.Written in an accessible style and grounded in data-driven analysis, the book will appeal to journalists, policymakers, researchers and general audiences interested in the contemporary Middle East, Turkish political economy and international relations.This book offers an analysis of naval constabulary operations, in particular Australian fisheries patrols, and challenges the widely accepted Anglo-American…
school of maritime thought.In the Indo-Pacific, fisheries and the activities of fishing boats are of increasing strategic importance in Australia’s region – Australia’s Four Oceans. Issues of overfishing, population growth and climate change are placing growing pressure on fish as a resource, and in doing so are making fisheries more significant, and significant on a strategic as opposed to simply an economic or environmental level. When, combined with the growing use of fishing vessels as para-naval forces, it is clear that the activities of fishing vessels, whether fishing or not fishing, are matters of considerable strategic relevance. This book illuminates contemporary seapower challenges, explains and defines maritime security and examines and refines existing theory to advance a set of new or refined concepts to help frame the on-water activities of constabulary operations -- reducing the possibility of on-water miscalculation between states.This book will be of much interest to students and scholars of naval studies and sea power, maritime strategy, maritime security and International Relations.The Quiet Coup: Neoliberalism and the Looting of America
By Mehrsa Baradaran. 2024
“[A]ccessible and intellectually rich . . . Essential reading to understand the economic state of the nation.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred)…
The celebrated legal scholar and author of The Color of Money reveals how neoliberals rigged American law, creating widespread distrust, inequality, and injustice. With the nation lurching from one crisis to the next, many Americans believe that something fundamental has gone wrong. Why aren’t college graduates able to achieve financial security? Why is government completely inept in the face of natural disasters? And why do pundits tell us that the economy is strong even though the majority of Americans can barely make ends meet? In The Quiet Coup, Mehrsa Baradaran, one of our leading public intellectuals, argues that the system is in fact rigged toward the powerful, though it wasn’t the work of evil puppet masters behind the curtain. Rather, the rigging was carried out by hundreds of (mostly) law-abiding lawyers, judges, regulators, policy makers, and lobbyists. Adherents of a market-centered doctrine called neoliberalism, these individuals, over the course of decades, worked to transform the nation—and succeeded. They did so by changing the law in unseen ways. Tracing this largely unknown history from the late 1960s to the present, Baradaran demonstrates that far from yielding fewer laws and regulations, neoliberalism has in fact always meant more—and more complex—laws. Those laws have uniformly benefited the wealthy. From the work of a young Alan Greenspan in creating "Black Capitalism," to Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell’s efforts to unshackle big money donors, to the establishment of the "Law and Economics" approach to legal interpretation—in which judges render opinions based on the principles of right-wing economics—Baradaran narrates the key moments in the slow-moving coup that was, and is, neoliberalism. Shifting our focus away from presidents and national policy, she tells the story of how this nation’s?laws?came to favor the few against the many, threatening the integrity of the market and the state. Some have claimed that the neoliberal era is behind us. Baradaran shows that such thinking is misguided. Neoliberalism is a failed economic idea—it doesn’t, in fact, create more wealth or more freedom. But it has been successful nevertheless, by seizing the courts and enabling our age of crypto fraud, financial instability, and accelerating inequality. An original account of the forces that have brought us to this dangerous moment in American history, The Quiet Coup reshapes our understanding of the recent past and lights a path toward a better future.Massacre in the Clouds: An American Atrocity and the Erasure of History
By Kim A. Wagner. 2024
In this &“forensic, unflinching, devastating work of historical recovery&” (Sathnam Sanghera), Bud Dajo—an American atrocity bigger than Wounded Knee or…
My Lai, yet today largely forgotten—is revealed, thanks to the rediscovery of a single photograph. In March 1906, American soldiers on the island of Jolo in the southern Philippines surrounded and killed 1000 local men, women, and children, known as Moros, on top of an extinct volcano. The so-called &‘Battle of Bud Dajo&’ was hailed as a triumph over an implacable band of dangerous savages, a &“brilliant feat of arms&” according to President Theodore Roosevelt. Some contemporaries, including W.E.B. Du Bois and Mark Twain, saw the massacre for what it was, but they were the exception and the U.S. military authorities successfully managed to bury the story. Despite the fact that the slaughter of Moros had been captured on camera, the memory of the massacre soon disappeared from the historical record. In Massacre in the Clouds, Kim A. Wagner meticulously recovers the history of a forgotten atrocity and the remarkable photograph that exposed its grim logic. His vivid, unsparing account of the massacre—which claimed hundreds more lives than Wounded Knee and My Lai combined—reveals the extent to which practices of colonial warfare and violence, derived from European imperialism, were fully embraced by Americans with catastrophic results.Empireworld: How British Imperialism Shaped the Globe
By Sathnam Sanghera. 2024
Bestselling author and journalist Sathnam Sanghera explores the global legacy of the British Empire, and the ways it continues to…
influence economics, politics, and culture around the world. 2.6 billion people are inhabitants of former British colonies. The empire's influence upon the quarter of the planet it occupied, and its gravitational influence upon the world outside it, has been profound: from the spread of Christianity by missionaries to the shaping international law. Even today, 1 in 3 people drive on the left hand side of the road, an artifact of the British empire. Yet Britain's idea of its imperial history and the world's experience of it are two very different things. Following in the footsteps of his bestselling book Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain, Empireworld explores the ways in which British Empire has come to shape the modern world Sanghera visits Barbados, where he uncovers how Caribbean nations are still struggling to emerge from the disadvantages sown by transatlantic slavery. He examines how large charities--like Save the Children and the World Bank--still see the world through the imperial eyes of their colonial founders, and how the political instability of nations, such as Nigeria, for instance, can be traced back to tensions seeded in their colonial foundations. And from the British Empire's role in the transportation of 12.5 million Africans during the Atlantic slave trade, to the 35 million Indians who died due to famine caused by British policy, the British Empire, as Sanghera reveals, was responsible for some of the largest demographic changes in human history. Economic, legal and political systems across the world continue to function along the lines originally drawn by the British Empire, and cultural, sexual, psychological, linguistic, demographic, and educational norms originally established by imperial Britons continue to shape our lives. British Empire may have peaked a century ago, and it may have been mostly dismantled by 1997, but in this major new work, Sathnam Sanghera ultimately shows how the largest empire in world history still exerts influence over planet Earth in all sorts of silent and unsilent ways.The End of Everything: How Wars Descend into Annihilation
By Victor Davis Hanson. 2024
In this &“gripping account of catastrophic defeat&” (Barry Strauss), a New York Times–bestselling historian charts how and why some societies…
chose to utterly destroy their foes, and warns that similar wars of obliteration are possible in our time &“In The End of Everything, Hanson tells compelling and harrowing stories of how civilizations perished. He helps us consider contemporary affairs in light of that history, think about the unthinkable, and recognize the urgency of trying to prevent our own demise.&” — H. R. McMaster, author of Battlegrounds War can settle disputes, topple tyrants, and bend the trajectory of civilization—sometimes to the breaking point. From Troy to Hiroshima, moments when war has ended in utter annihilation have reverberated through the centuries, signaling the end of political systems, cultures, and epochs. Though much has changed over the millennia, human nature remains the same. Modern societies are not immune from the horror of a war of extinction. In The End of Everything, military historian Victor Davis Hanson narrates a series of sieges and sackings that span the age of antiquity to the conquest of the New World to show how societies descend into barbarism and obliteration. In the stories of Thebes, Carthage, Constantinople, and Tenochtitlan, he depicts war&’s drama, violence, and folly. Highlighting the naivete that plagued the vanquished and the wrath that justified mass slaughter, Hanson delivers a sobering call to contemporary readers to heed the lessons of obliteration lest we blunder into catastrophe once again.