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Garry Wills

A Necessary Evil: A History of American Distrust of Government Hardcover – October 20, 1999

by Garry Wills (Author)

4.3 55 ratings

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In his first major work since Lincoln at Gettysburg, the author blames American's long-standing mistrust of government on a misreading of history, and a fundamental misunderstanding of the Founding Fathers. Tour.

Print length

352 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Simon & Schuster
Publication date

October 20, 1999
Dimensions

6.25 x 1.25 x 9.5 inches
ISBN-10

0684844893
ISBN-13

978-0684844893
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4.3 out of 5

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Marty

Wills, noted classicist and former writer at The National ...

Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2016

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Wills, noted classicist and former writer at The National Review, debunks many common Anti-Federalist notions that have survived in popular American political and social culture. He analyzes these arguments in light of the intents of the Founders and the Federalists, citing primary sources and viable secondary research in defining terms, discerning intentions and explaining that the opposition to the Constitution still survives in popular but constitutionally unfounded Right-Wing lore. Willis uses his classical education, experience as a political writer and judicious use of historical methodologies to provide a clearer understanding of both the Founding and of the constitutionally defined role of government. Moreover, this is a clear and simple read that should be accessible to everyone.

2 people found this helpful

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Sam Spade

When did it become a bad idea to read something that challenges one's preconceptions

Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2016

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When did it become a bad idea to read something that challenges one's preconceptions? While one may not necessarily agree with all this book's conclusions, there is no doubt its arguments are well-researched and logical. A few points off for this book's citation of "Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture" by Michael A. Bellesiles before proven fraudulent.

One person found this helpful

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Duffy 5319

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2016

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great

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Glenn H. Reynolds

Not his best -- Wills is looking like the Left's Bork

Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 1999

As I read this book there was something hazily familiar about it. Finally I figured out what it was. Wills is seeming more and more like the Robert Bork of the left. Like Bork, he argues from history and intent. Like Bork, he takes positions (for example, on the Second Amendment) that fly in the face of virtually all the scholarship on the subject. And, most distressingly like Bork, he assumes that since everyone but him is wrong (that is, disagrees with Bork/Wills), that is evidence that everyone else is either stupid or dishonest. It is, of course, always possible that everyone else *is* wrong, and that Wills *is* right -- but Wills does not come close to meeting the burden that one adopting such a position should carry.
His central point -- that the Framers weren't anarchists -- is true, but trivial. No one with any sense thinks they were. His other points, however, ignore the fact that they *were* revolutionaries. Also like Bork, Wills tries to graft late-20th-century (well, really mid-20th century) political theories onto people who held very different views. Most like Bork of all, his book will no doubt be used by people who agree with him politically to suggest that there is solid historical support for their position. That will work until enough people read it to realize how intellectually thin it is.
I have generally been a fan of Wills, but this work is the proverbial thirteenth chime of the clock -- not only wrong in itself, but calling into question everything that came before. For a more accurate take on many of these issues try Pauline Meier's "From Resistance to Revolution," Joyce Lee Malcolm's "To Keep and Bear Arms," Leonard Levy's "Origins of the Bill of Rights," and Gary Hart's "The Minuteman: Restoring an Army of the People."

83 people found this helpful

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just a Historian

A thoroughly engaging book that seems to have been mis-read

Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 1999

When Garry Wills closes his book with the idea that government is a necessary good, some reviewers seem to have made the assumption that he is claiming then, that bigger goverment necessarily yields greater good. Nowhere does he make such a claim. In fact, his focus is not the scope of government or, for the most part, specifics of government. His main focus is two-fold: both the fact that anti-government sentiment has long been present in our nation, and the way in which its proponents have tried to see that sentiment written into our founding documents. His harsh words are not for those who are skeptical of the government but for those intellectualls who he feels have been sloppy in their attempts to establish a constitutional basis for such skepticism. If we were to assume that Wills's reading of the Second Amendment is the correct one, does that mean that it is the wise thing to ban citizens from owning fire-arms? Not necessarily. Is the belief that skepticism was not written into the Constitution a condemnation of skepticism? Certainly not. Though I may disagree with some of Mr. Wills ideas (though not generally with those found in this book,) he is certainly not a state-ist, a Hitler apologist, or a knee-jerk Liberal. The reviews that his book has received certainly show, though, that he has found a political nerve and that we often do look to the founding documents as justification for strongly held beliefs.

88 people found this helpful

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