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The Limits of Power
Book

The Limits of Power

The End of American Exceptionalism

Metropolitan Books, 2008 подробнее...


Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Controversial
  • Eye Opening
  • Background

Recommendation

Author Andrew J. Bacevich dedicates this book to his son, a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army who was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq. Bacevich has long been a strong conservative critic of U.S. policy in Iraq, but it’s difficult to escape the impression that the impassioned indictment set forth here draws on a deep reservoir of personal anguish. With unblinking, unwavering directness, he attacks the illusions, self-deceptions and hypocritical cant that he says have provided the atmosphere and background music for a U.S. orgy of profligate consumption at home and rapacious violence abroad. A leading “conservative historian,” Bacevich supports his case with remarkably well-chosen facts, anecdotes and quotations, without ever bogging down the reader in unnecessary detail. Whether you agree or disagree with his conclusions, getAbstract recommends his book to anyone interested in contemporary American history and events.

Take-Aways

  • Americans live under the delusion that their continuing state of war is the fault of evil outsiders – but Americans themselves are responsible for it.
  • Americans extol “freedom” without truly examining what they mean by the word.
  • For too many Americans, freedom merely means the liberty to consume.

About the Author

Former military officer Andrew J. Bacevich teaches history and international relations at Boston University. He wrote The New American Militarism and sits on the Council on Foreign Relations.


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