One of the nice things about doing blogs is that sometimes people buy you a book they have enjoyed and feel you should know. So, thank you Iain G for the copy of Nick Bryants’s The Forever War, an interesting read for the upcoming elections and not to be confused by Joe Haldeman’s book of the same title from some years back!
It’s in two parts really with a fairly brisk romp through American Political History which reminded me of my father’s approach to teaching me way back when I first showed a bit of interest. Like his teaching it’s a fairly left of centre approach, with forays into Marxist analysis along the way. That’s not my having a go it’s a perfectly legitimate approach and very readable.
Then he decides to go over more recent ground.
Bryant rightly sees America’s countless disputes, attacks on democracy, racism, guns, book bans and culture wars as deeply troublesome. He also sees Republicans and Democrats in separate bunkers shouting at each other with their fingers in their ears. So far so good but frankly a bit obvious.
Bryant quotes Hilary Mantel “History is what people are trying to hide from you not what they’re trying to show you.”
Again, nothing really original in that. Jeremy Paxman famously summed up Politician’s being cagy with their information and intentions when coming onto his TV interviews with the far more pithy line “Who is this bastard and why is he lying to me?”.
He makes the reasonable point that the North and South have never really resolved the Civil War. But surely you must have noticed?
He points out that the Framers were never supporters of democracy. The word occurs no where in the Constitution. Hey ho and all men didn’t mean slaves, women, the guy who cleans your toilet or anyone else who was not in the room when they signed the constitution. See any number of The Oligarch Kings passim.
Bryant also suggests alternative action both past or more recently have been unsuccessful. Really? I’d never have noticed.
Is well written and a reasonable romp through problems past and present and a good primer in American History.
But….
Its not overly original in simply seeking to challenge America’s Pollyanna-ish view of itself.
At the end I cannot think who the target audience for this really are.
Copyright The Oligarch Kings 2024
