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The New Vichy Syndrome: Why European Intellectuals Surrender to Barbarism Hardcover – March 9, 2010

by Theodore Dalrymple (Author)

32 customer reviews

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Western Europe is in a strangely neurotic condition of being smug and terrified at the same time. On the one hand, Europeans believe they have at last created an ideal social and political system in which man can live comfortably. In many ways, things have never been better on the old continent. On the other hand, there is growing anxiety that Europe is quickly falling behind in an aggressive, globalized world. Europe is at the forefront of nothing, its demographics are rapidly transforming in unsettling ways, and the ancient threat of barbarian invasion has resurfaced in a fresh manifestation.

In The New Vichy Syndrome, Theodore Dalrymple traces this malaise back to the great conflicts of the last century and their devastating effects upon the European psyche. From issues of religion, class, colonialism, and nationalism, Europeans hold a “miserablist” view of their history, one that alternates between indifference and outright contempt of the past. Today’s Europeans no longer believe in anything but personal economic security, an increased standard of living, shorter working hours, and long vacations in exotic locales.

The result, Dalrymple asserts, is an unwillingness to preserve European achievements and the dismantling of western culture by Europeans themselves. As vapid hedonism and aggressive Islamism fill this cultural void, Europeans have no one else to blame for their plight.

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Theodore Dalrymple is a former psychiatrist and prison doctor. He writes a column for The Spectator of London, contributes frequently to the Daily Telegraph, and is a contributing editor of the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal. He lives in France.

Hardcover: 160 pages
Publisher: Encounter Books; 1st edition (March 9, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1594033722
ISBN-13: 978-1594033728
Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 0.8 x 9.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 32 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,216,797 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2460 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Human Geography
- #3360 in Books > History > Europe > France
- #3830 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > International & World Politics > European

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Robert A. Hall

Penetrating insights and eviscerating wit

July 26, 2014

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Written under the pen name Theodore Dalrymple, whose great book "Life at the Bottom" I consider a must-read, In "The New Vichy Syndrome," British Psychiatrist Anthony Daniels turns his penetrating insights and eviscerating wit to Europe, including the Muslim problem, the European Union and the general "miserabilist" world view of modern Europeans. He draws the surprising conclusion that the growth of the Muslim population is not a threat unless Europe allows it to be, by defending the values of their societies against the minority of Islamists and not protecting the majority of Muslims who want to live peacefully in a modern society from the violent ones. Of course, he recognizes that the will to defend values--or values themselves--may not be present in most Europeans today, but he says the Muslim problem is a problem in us, due to a lack of courage. The misearbilist (his fine word) world view adopted by too many of his fellow Europeans he traces back to the devastating history of the conflicts in the 20th century and the los by Europe of world leadership--or even importance. Europeans went from being proud of their history and accomplishments to being contemptuous of it. Daniels finds both unremitting positive or negative views of the past equally in error; balance is needed. On the EU, he heaps contempt. Take this quote about EU bureaucrats: "You can spot a feeder at the European trough... a mile off: having for a long time viewed the world exclusively through the window of an official limousine, having lunched and dined heavily for many years (never at his own expense, of course), and having developed a special "langue de bois" in which streams of grammatically formed verbiage are carefully studded with words of positive connotation that makes it difficult to argue against him, he has developed the gray, immobile, slab-faced countenance of members of the former Soviet Politburo. Alas, it seems there are a large number of volunteers--mainly mediocrities, of course--for this kind of life. It seems to them eminently preferable to earning a living." Could we not write the same about many of the parasites living off us in Washington? He has equally harsh words for many politicians, Americans included. This book is well worth reading.

Robert A. Hall
Author: "The Coming Collapse of the American Republic"

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Reasons for European Malaise

May 21, 2010

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Dalrymple is a retired British Physician and writer known for a series of articles and books criticising the modern European Civilization. In this his most recent book, he comments on current trends in Europe, and by extension, the western world.

On the cover, one reviewer notes that Dalrymple is "erudite, witty, unfashionably blunt and, above all, wise." This is a perfect description of the author and cannot be improved upon. It is important to understand the author to understand the book because he writes from a highly personal perspective without the usual citations of sociological works. Some would criticize this perspective, but Dalrymple never claims to be scientific; he only claims to be so self-evidently right that his positions require no supporting footnotes.

So what perspective can you expect from this book then? On page 83, while discussing his dual role as a Brit and as a member of the the European Union he admits "my nation now specializ[es] in the breeding up of charmless drunken screaming vulgarians." That's pretty blunt. He calls tattoos a "savage and stupid form of self-mutilation". He notes that all four groups of Sunni Muslims sentence converts to Christianity to death. (And that's the moderate Muslims?) He condemns political correctness saying we are "pass[ing] laws to preserve sensitive bigots from hurt feelings."

Excellent and forthright sentiments, I know, but this book actually has less of that than his previous books which I found to be better and more straightforward. The author has retired and so has less anecdotes from his suicidal, promiscuous, felonious slackers in his practice making this book drier than his previous efforts.

As you read the current European headlines from the economic troubles of Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Great Britain - and as you read of the re-assertion of Russian control over Eastern Europe with events like the Katyn Forest II massacre that killed nearly every anti-communist Pole, all of whom just happened to be carrying zip drives with the codes allowing Russia to know the location of every single NATO asset - you can only be amazed at the prescience of the author noting the fall of his civilization.

The author notes multiple factors that are making the Europeans surrender just as the Vichy French did in WWII (thus the title). They include demographic changes like unregulated immigration of Muslims and a failing birthrate of the native Europeans, loss of religious belief, loss of nationalism, loss of work ethic, loss of historical perspective, Marxism and the like. None of these are new, but Dalrymple states them with a certainty that avoids trying to not offend every possible reader. Dalrymple is not religious, by the way, but his brand of secular humanism is quite conservative in many ways.

Another aspect that the reader may or may not find interesting is that the incredibly literate author often uses literature from Shakespeare to Bertrand Russell to make his points. Your average college-educated American would be completely lost trying to understand his allusions unless they avoided Psychology 101, Feminist rantings, and Appreciation of Television and actually studied some real literature and humanities.

All in all, not his best book, but certainly thoughtful reading given the current news from Europe.

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Burke Lanthorn

Great Book

June 12, 2010

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Dense complex and literary. It will demand re-reading of passages, pages and, for me at some future date, reconsideration as the author packed every sentence with new, complex meanings that merit considered study and not a casual gloss. I can't wait to return to the text.

Dalrymple assails many myths and fallacies but I enjoyed the brutal tear down of the population bomb where a majority posits usurpation by a minority due to disparity in birth rates. The author discredits this view by sighting his own experiences prognosticating in scholarly journals on similar matters, then after a few decades, seeing that the variable changed and the feared outcome never arrived.

Common sense answers to apocalyptic visions of societal change coupled with a deep sense of history and Dalyrmple's own understanding of humanity imbue this work with clarity and, at least in my first take, a sense that the rumored clash of civilizations requires intellectuals to stand up and point out errant practices as such in order to maintain our civil society. Doing so, and necessarily abandoning cultural relativism, will not resurrect aberrations in spite of the specters of colonialism and fascism that populate the history of Europe and the fears of the elite.

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