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POLITICA >>Reviews | ||||
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Politica is a forum for independent analysis of political events around the World |
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Vidal, G. 2003. Dreaming War. Clairview, UK. Rating: JJJJ About the Author: Gore Vidal is perhaps one of the best known novelists in the United States. He is also a playwright and a brilliant essayist. He was born in 1925 and served on an army vessel in the Second World War. Books by the same author:
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Review This sequel to 'Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace' is a masterpiece, which compares very favourably with Michael Moore's new book 'Dude, Where's My Country?'. Vidal's work draws on his immense historical knowledge to show how American democracy has been on the decline ever since the Constitution was writte, but most particularly in the last 50 years. This decline has been accompanied by ever-fiercer imperial ambitions, which have left the country with an enormous deficit fuelled by a perpetual wartime economy. The subtitle Blood for oil and the Cheney-Bush junta is a fair summary of the entire collection. But Vidal goes illustrates current affairs with past conflicts, even arguing that the USA entered the Second World War on false pretences. We learn how successive American governments have invented new ennemies, external or internal, in order to shred the Bill of Rights or embark on destructive Imperial ventures aimed at securing vital resources or imposing allegiance to their rule. For those who think Lincoln was a a Saint, or that the Marshall Plan was designed for altruistic motives, or even that there is such a thing as a 'good war', Vidal once again provides a valuable reality check. Nic |
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