PositiveThe Guardian (UK)\"... he has not written a mere travelogue: running through the book is a strong current of concern not unlike that which Washington sought to address ... He is not afraid to show his cards: the country is in trouble ... Philbrick’s book addresses weighty matters but is nevertheless an enjoyable read, a fitting if unusual capstone to a trilogy on the revolution. At times, the book seems like a valedictory. The author’s many readers hope not.\
Andrew J. Bacevich
MixedThe Guardian (UK)Winston Churchill supposedly said: \'Americans will always do the right thing, only after they have tried everything else.\' In his new book, Andrew Bacevich goes far towards proving the second half of that sentence and casts doubt on the first, without offering much in the way of alternatives. In what is mostly a social history of the post-cold war era—don’t expect to find an analysis of the Balkan wars—Bacevich seeks to chronicle how the US \'wasted little time in squandering the advantage it had gained.\' Few would disagree ... Acerbic, even curmudgeonly—his catalogue of America’s social ills is harsh but fair—Bacevich veers between the commonplace and the sarcastic ... sometimes the author’s strategy, as well as his history, is simply wrong ... his book has a fatal weakness: he never quite says what or who he is for. He is too good a historian not to know there was a tendency of \'anti-anti-communism\' during the cold war. Perhaps his book is about \'anti-anti-Trumpism\' ... One hopes some future historian will find the seeds of success in our present troubles.
