Customer Reviews

An Autumn of War: What America Learned from September 11 and the War on Terrorism

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This is a really great book--penetrates the psycho-babble and punditry that serves as analysis of the problem of radical islam. Hanson is unapologetic; he is a military historian and professor of the classics with a deep understanding of the West, and a long view of history and warfare. If you read the introduction, you will be hooked on his style, which is unpretentious--it makes you realize that much of the analysis on terrorism, even be learned and experienced people, is just wrong. More importantly, it will cost more lives in the future. He convincingly compares the dithering before the Second World War to the high-society Euro-intellectuals of the day--people (unfortunately) like Colin Powell, who, upon the U.S. attack on the Taliban in Afghanistan commented that we might strike deals with the "moderate" Taliban. This of course begs the question--What is a moderate Taliban? That's like saying a "moderate Nazi." Sometimes, the shortest route to end the bloodshed is to obliterate your foe, and that is what he calls for--reducing the specter of al qaeda and the Taliban to a realistic threat. In the process, he takes a lot of hot air out of the chattering classes, college professors and policy wonks. Still, this is not a polemic and it is well written--comparable in depth to Robert D. Kaplan, Donald Kagan or Robert Kagan--if you like them, you will like him. Because this is a series of editorials, there tends to be a little repeating, but still a well-deserved five stars.

Anyone familiar with the writing of Victor Davis Hanson, a professor of classics and journalist, knows his views on the subject of this book. He is a passionate defender of American greatness, hates the tyrants of the world with all his soul and has nothing but scorn for the appeasers and bashers of America among the intellectual elite. All these views are well amplified in this book, a collection of essays published, mainly in National Review Online, between September 12 and December 31, 2001. The topics are far ranging and the tones of the essays vary considerably. In many, Hanson writes with an eloquent passion in defense of Western civilization and Western values. Indeed, his words may be called Churchillian. (One essay is entitled "What Would Churchill Say" and liberally quotes the great man.) In other essays, Hanson envokes important military figures from the past such as Sherman to demonstrate his view that the great Western nations go to war reluctantly but with an unrelenting savage fury. Other essays are satirical in tone including one in which he imagines the modern media covering the Doolittle raid on Tokyo. The most inventive essay is one in which he conducts an "interview" with Thucydides, the great chronicler of the Peloponesian War by interposing questions about the war on Islamic fascism with actual quotations (complete with citations) from Thucydides himself.

Hanson is no lightweight pundit. The man is a brilliant scholar filled with passionate yet truthful opinions. He amply supports those opinions through the exploration of history. This excellent book is a welcome antidote to the venom produced by the left and the pablum produced by most of our punditocracy. Hanson fills me with pride in being an American. His writing is never jingoistic but always passionate and patriotic. If you feel pessimistic and think maybe America's day has passed, read this book. It will make you feel better.

Victor Davis Hanson is a premier military historian, and in the aftermath of 9/11, he has emerged as one of the most incisive analysts of the War on Terrorism as well. "An Autumn of War" is a collection of Hanson's contemporaneous writings over the four months from 9/11 through the U.S. victory in Afghanistan and the formation of the Karzai government in Kabul.

Hanson's essays -- grounded in his military history background --offer trenchant insight and remarkable prescience in foretelling events to come. To cite one of many examples, an early November Hanson essay posits that Okinawa, rather than Vietnam, is the most apt analogy for the fortified cave fighting in Afghanistan. This came at a time when so-called informed opinion -- devoid of meaningful historical perspective -- was hysterically, fatuously and irresponsibly drawing Vietnam parallels, and prematurely speculating about quagmires. (See R.W. Apple's infamous "news analysis" in The New York Times on October 31, 2001.)

With reason, keen insight and historical grounding, Hanson asserts that the U.S.'s lack of preparedness and irresolution in the face of mounting terrorist provocations made us vulnerable to the alQaeda attacks on New York and Washington, and offers a compelling argument for achieving total victory -- and not merely partial retribution -- in the ongoing War on Terrorism (including Iraq).

With the one-year anniversary once again riveting a spotlight on the 9/11 horror, a reading of "An Autumn of War" should be part of any thorough retrospective.

This book is a collection of essays written in the weeks after 9/11. His viewpoints on this new warfront are very well thought out, researched and for the most part based on history, not just of battles and wars, but cultures as well. In short, he seem's to see this war in somewhat simplistic terms of "us or them" and "do or die" where pacifism, denial, and self-blame ("we brought this on ourselves because of our foriegn policy, etc.") could be the terrorists biggest weapon, ultimately giving them the upper hand. Some may feel his views are cold or callous but taking into a military historians account, war itself is cold and callous. In a true war between 2 cultures, there is often no room for taking into account the other sides "feelings", especially when they are so hell-bent on destroying you. His views are hard to argue with because many are based on historical facts that have time and time again proven true. And although these are in fact new times in a more advanced civilization, the motives, beliefs and desires for the most part remain the same (they want to kill us - for various reasons - and we want to live). He does a great job in laying out his case for an offensive and aggressive response to America's "new" enemies.

Hanson's "An Autumn of War" is a book of essays where the author utilizes military history to show how much of September 11th and its effects have been visited on us and other civilizations before. Refreshingly opposed to ubiquitous political correctness, Hanson discusses various topics related to the 9-11 massacre: the Taliban and bin Laden; Hollywood and academia's baseless anti-Americanism; discussions on the Civil War's General Sherman and the generals of ancient Greece. At times, Hanson's tone is a bit too opinionated, and he packs his essays with historical events and characters with which the layman may not necessary be familiar. Nonetheless, Hanson tackles a wide array of topics leaving the reader with a much better view of 9-11 and the necessity of current military action.

Despite the fact that the essays in this book sometimes come across as overly jingoistic or polemic, this book is perhaps the most important statement of principles I have seen regarding what we have learned -- or perhaps re-learned -- after September 11th. In short, Hanson argues that despite imperfections, American values of democracy, tolerance and open society are vastly superior to the repressive and medieval values of the religious fanatics who drove planes into buildings filled with civilians. He dispels the arguments of those who buy into the postmodern notions that all cultures are morally equal. He also attacks the notion that America was responsible for its own pain due to its immoral foreign policy by pointing out the failure of much of the Muslim world to embrace modernity and the resulting perceived grievances that arise when they see our successful, open and forward-looking society.

The biggest failing of this book is that the author sometimes does gloss over genuine failures of American policy that have had negative results. But he teaches us that despite our failings we are still genuinely the fairest and freest people on earth and we should react to terrorist fanaticism with the same moral clarity with which we set out to annihilate the genuinely evil regimes of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan -- and wound up leaving a freer, more prosperous and better world in their place.

Even though these essays appeared over a year ago their logic and common sense still are timely. Victor Davis Hanson has a knack for combining the knowledge of the past with the present. Hanson's deep interest and love of the ancients comes through here as the author wrestles with the US response toward terrorism and rogue states that harbor them. The author of "Soul of Battle" and many other books dealing with the Occidental style of war, Hanson has a tendency to hammer the same points home over and over, but he does it with style and wit. Hanson is of the belief that armies of democratic states are invincible. He made this point very clearly in the previous mentioned book above. Still, one might add that such armies are formidable if well lead. History is full of examples where poorly led democratic armies failed badly. For the United States such examples would be the War of 1812 and Vietnam. If well led and given a clear and direct purpose armies of democratic states can prove quite formidable indeed. Hanson makes much of this case here within these essays. His analysis stands up even more so with recent events in Iraq, even though these were written a year before the invasion. Hanson would no doubt like to compare Iraq's recent fall to that of the Spartans, the Confederacy and Nazi Germany, each, according to his earlier thesis were defeated totally by rampaging armies of free, democratic states. While a bit broad at times, Hanson's no-nonesense style certainly provokes thought, and will most certainly provoke advocates of the Liberal Left toward which most of his broadsides are directed in this country. A wothwhile book, which is inspiring, timely and perhaps a bit controversial depending on your political views. Hanson's knowledge of history and its comparisons to the present are fascinating and alone worth pondering whether you believe in his views or not. This book is basically a call to arms for the US, and some may not agree with the message here, but it is a powerful one nonetheless.

Hanson has emerged in my mind as one of the best political commentators since George Will. His phenomenal knowledge of the history of Western civilization and its military actions brings great breadth and depth to his observations of current affairs. His lifelong connection to the farmers soil gives him a far more realistic and credible world view than the academic elite from which he frequently tries to distance himself (a remarkable feat for a Professor of Classics).
This book is a compilation of essays written during the three months after the September 2001 terrorist attacks. I fully expected that there would be dated material and some degree of redundancy, since they appeared originally in different venues. Neither fear was realized. His reliance on universal patterns of human behavior makes these commentaries even more relevant today, after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, than they were at the time they were written. I could find no instance where his predictions about either Administration actions or military and political outcomes did not come to pass.
His writing style is very clear and flows easily. His frequent allusions to military battles over the past two millennia may leave some readers with a feeling that he is being pedantic. But his sense of humor and bluntly stated (often politically incorrect) opinions make the readers experience a joy.

"The Lord GOD has given me a well-trained tongue,
That I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them."
-Isiah 50:4

John Kennedy once said that Winston Churhill was able to "mobilize the English language and send it into battle."

For the 9/11 generation, Victor Davis Hanson was able to fill that same role in the fall of 2001. The book is a collection of his essays that appeared in such publications as the National Review and the Wall Street Journal. It should be required reading for anyone still confused about what caused the attacks and unsure of what our response should be.

David Hanson provides great historical anecdotes throughout this book. Writing in a fresh and compelling way, he takes on the assertions promoted by elite academics that all cultures are morally equal. The claim that there are no values, which are better or worse for a society to adopt, is directly addressed in this book. Hanson provides a much needed and refreshing voice in the marketplace of ideas.

He does a remarkable job of taking on the `blame America first crowd'. For instance, on numerous occasions I've heard the question, "Why do they hate America so much?" This question is often coupled with an underlying belief that the democratic and free world bares blame for being the target of terrorism. However, this seems to be much like accusing a female victim of assault of wearing clothes that are too attractive. Do innocent people deserve to die because they live in a country that is too free, too capitalistic, and too democratic?

Yes, Hanson's writing is opinionated, but I'd prefer reading a book where the author is assertive and clear on the ideas being expressed. Unfortunately, most of what is written on the events of 9/11 is descriptive, but lacks any prescription. Hanson does both.

In short, Hanson shows how an adequate and right response to terrorism can and will leave the world a better place. His historical examples and clear thinking result in an important book on a difficult topic.