Civilization and Its Enemies - by Lee Harris (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Forgetfulness occurs when those who have been long inured to civilized order can no longer remember a time in which they had to wonder whether their crops would grow to maturity without being stolen or their children sold into slavery by a victorious foe....They forget that in time of danger, in the face of the enemy, they must trust and confide in each other, or perish....They forget, in short, that there has ever been a category of human experience called the enemy.
"That, before 9/11, was what had happened to us. The very concept of the enemy had been banished from our moral and political vocabulary. An enemy was just a friend we hadn't done enough for yet. Or perhaps there had been a misunderstanding, or an oversight on our part -- something that we could correct....
"Our first task is therefore to try to grasp what the concept of the enemy really means. The enemy is someone who is willing to die in order to kill you. And while it is true that the enemy always hates us for a reason, it is his reason, and not ours."
So begins Civilization and Its Enemies, an extraordinary tour de force by America's "reigning philosopher of 9/11," Lee Harris. What Francis Fukuyama did for the end of the Cold War, Lee Harris has now done for the next great conflict: the war between the civilized world and the international terrorists who wish to destroy it. Each major turning point in our history has produced one great thinker who has been able to step back from petty disagreements and see the bigger picture -- and Lee Harris has emerged as that man for our time. He is the one who has helped make sense of the terrorists' fantasies and who forces us most strongly to confront the fact that our enemy -- for the first time in centuries -- refuses to play by any of our rules, or to think in any of our categories.
We are all naturally reluctant to face a true enemy. Most of us cannot give up the myth that tolerance is the greatest of virtues and that we can somehow convert the enemy to our beliefs. Yet, as Harris's brilliant tour through the stages of civilization demonstrates, from Sparta to the French Revolution to the present, civilization depends upon brute force, properly wielded by a sovereign. Today, only America can play the role of sovereign on the world stage, by the use of force when necessary.
Lee Harris's articles have been hailed by thinkers from across the spectrum. His message is an enduring one that will change the way readers think -- about the war with Iraq, about terrorism, and about our future.

Review Quotes

Arnold Beichman author of "Nine Lies About America" A learned, imaginative study of the new world of the twenty-first century and the opening gun, 9/11, of World War III. We know in our gut and in our rhetoric that our world is changed forever -- but how and why and what has changed is what Lee Harris's brilliant analysis is all about.

Daniel Pipes Lee Harris has emerged as the reigning philosopher of 9/11, the thinker most willing and capable of thinking through the implications of what he understands to be a world-historical event such as the French Revolution or World War I. With relentless logic and with help from such thinkers as Plato and Hegel, he dissects the West's strong and weak points, then unsparingly draws conclusions about the deep-seated changes that need be made to achieve victory over a ruthless foe. Those conclusions, often disturbing, will prompt much reflection.

InstaPundit.com "Civilization and Its Enemies" is indispensable for anyone who wants to understand what is going on in the world today. Lee Harris explains why people are trying to kill us -- and why so many in the West are reluctant to face reality.

About the Author

Lee Harris entered Emory University at age fourteen and graduated summa cum laude. After years spent pursuing diverse interests, including a stint at divinity school, several years writing mystery novels, and a career as a glazier, he began writing philosophical articles that captured the imagination of readers all over the world. The author of three of the most controversial and widely shared pieces in the history of Policy Review, Harris has emerged as one of the most talked-about writers of recent times. He lives in Stone Mountain, Georgia.