Victor Davis Hanson

Summary of Victor Davis Hanson's The Dying Citizen, written by Falcon Press, Aaron Frederickson, narrator
I did not read the book, I read a summary available in my library, but no place else that I could find it. This indicates to me that Hanson is absolutely correct in his appraisal of today’s society. When information seems to be censored for political reasons, we are in deep trouble. While there are hard copies available for purchase, and many other summaries are available, my public library system has only this one readily accessible. That is a tell. Libraries are steeped in progressiveness.
Victor Davis Hanson is a conservative thinker. He writes about the way in which America is declining because of a change in focus from Nationalism to Globalism. I agree with his views. Although every liberal book with a “woke and DEI view” is easily acquired, though sometimes so sought after, the hold time is long, his book is not. This simply supports his view that the powers that be are in charge of the message and the message is therefore incomplete in an attempt to cause a revolutionary change in the way the country is run and understood.
By controlling the message through political rhetoric, activist protests and threats of violence, coupled with a compromised political media, certain privileged elites have willfully charged others with their own sins and have gained control and shut down many alternative conversations wherever they might occur, on the political stage, in higher education and in ordinary communication between people who have rejected those they disagree with, refusing even to have a conversation on other opinions.
Although this summary may be accurate, the final comments indicated that those who summarized it might not be as conservative in viewpoint as the author, since the opinion presented of him seemed a bit negative. However, Hanson is a conservative journalist with a nationalistic philosophy about the United States who believes in the Constitution and the values of the founding fathers, including the fact that it Is based on a belief in a power higher than ourselves. This summary appears to be written by the younger generation, and they have been largely brainwashed by the propaganda of an education system based in liberalism. Hanson believes in a country that promotes its own individuals over the rights of the citizens in the global world which he believes diminishes the country itself for the benefit of outsiders who are not citizens.
I agree with him and find that his message is accurate. There is a power about now that is beginning to destroy what America was, and is intended to be, as the global interests of a corrupt political party in power seems to be ignoring all precedents and its own Constitution as it gains strength over the citizens and their thinking processes. They have convinced masses that bringing in residents who are not citizens and should have more power than themselves is a good idea, which it most certainly is not and redefines the very nature of America and shows the inability of so many to think critically.
I tried to discover more information on the publisher and the narrator but was largely unsuccessful, though it appears that the journalists are from a middle school or high school which further justifies Hanson’s premises.… (mehr)

This is dated now, by several decades. But it's also an interesting time capsule of the last shudders of classical education in the US system, and an indictment of the dead rot in academia the battle over which we're still participating in a quarter of a century later.
The book is at its strongest when it's defending the classics themselves, at its worst when it melds conservative US politics with said defense. For anyone outside of the US many of these themes will be familiar, including the watering down of the discipline with increasingly inane cross pollination from other disciplines in a desperate search for relevancy. The last part of the book tries to envision a complete restructuring of the (US) educational system, where the classics are not just a required part, but integral in a more holistic and cross-disciplinary education. While entirely utopian in vision it's a fairly interesting vision of alternative education in its own right.… (mehr)

Through 10 essays by various noted historians, this book attempts to demonstrate that the military thinking and policies of the ancient Greco-Romans remain relevant to understand conflict in the modern world. Ancient leaders include Xerxes, Pericles, Epaminondas, Alexander, Spartacus, and Caesar.

I thought most essays were excellent, providing a nice balance between necessary background information and analysis.

This type of book is a nice addition to the typical standard historical work which focuses on a particular campaign or leader.… (mehr)