An Autumn of War

August 5, 2002
"Why do they hate us?" is the wrong question to ask after September 11, writes Hanson; war and tragedy are to be expected, as the ancients knew. Hanson's classicism informs this collection of essays that appeared mostly on National Review Online, presented here chronologically, from September (when, he argues, "we had no choice but to counterattack long and hard") through December 2001, when he considers the implications of that counterattack. Liberals beware: Hanson has no patience for these who believe the condition of the world can be ameliorated.

July 1, 2002
\deflang1033\pard\plain\f3\fs24 Hanson, classics professor at California State University at Fresno, writes a biweekly column for \plain\f3\fs24" National Review Online\plain\f3\fs24 . The terrorist attacks of September 11 prompted him to compose a series of essays, which appeared in various newspapers and magazines, covering that "landmark event in American history, if not the most calamitous day in our nation's 225 years." He now puts those essays together in book form as a "record of emerging events" as they were happening. Hanson nimbly and assuredly discusses such provocative topics as "class as an indicator of America's differing political responses to September 11" and the fact that "the misery of the Middle East" is not "simply a result of widespread failure to adapt free institutions, democracy, [and] open markets." No one can draw complete, definite conclusions about September 11 and the subsequent war against terrorism without carefully considering the ideas articulately explored here. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)