The Age of Illusions

How America Squandered Its Cold War Victory

By: Andrew Bacevich

Narrated by: Andrew Bacevich, Rob Shapiro

Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's Summary

A thought-provoking and penetrating account of the post-Cold war follies and delusions that culminated in the age of Donald Trump from the best-selling author of The Limits of Power.

When the Cold War ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Washington establishment felt it had prevailed in a world-historical struggle. Our side had won, a verdict that was both decisive and irreversible. For the world’s “indispensable nation”, its “sole superpower”, the future looked very bright. History, having brought the United States to the very summit of power and prestige, had validated American-style liberal democratic capitalism as universally applicable. 

In the decades to come, Americans would put that claim to the test. They would embrace the promise of globalization as a source of unprecedented wealth while embarking on wide-ranging military campaigns to suppress disorder and enforce American values abroad, confident in the ability of US forces to defeat any foe. Meanwhile, they placed all their bets on the White House to deliver on the promise of their Cold War triumph: unequaled prosperity, lasting peace, and absolute freedom. 

In The Age of Illusions, best-selling author Andrew Bacevich takes us from that moment of seemingly ultimate victory to the age of Trump, telling an epic tale of folly and delusion. Writing with his usual eloquence and vast knowledge, he explains how, within a quarter of a century, the United States ended up with gaping inequality, permanent war, moral confusion, and an increasingly angry and alienated population, as well, of course, as the strangest president in American history. 

USA Today Best Books of the Year - 2020

©2020 Andrew J. Bacevich (P)2020 Macmillan Audio

Badly named, but pretty good overall

I appreciated this book. I haven't spent much time reading about the last few decades of US foreign policy. I think it was really beneficial for me to zoom out from the daily/weekly news cycle that has been electrifying my nerves for the last few years now. Granted, I disagree with Bacevich's take on various events that he describes. But I never struggled to distinguish from what he describes as recent US historical facts, and his opinion. While I don't always follow his views on events, I didn't find them to be frustratingly skewed from reality at any point. I also don't agree with Amazon ebook reviewers that took umbrage to his conclusion about climate change being a potential catalyst for political/societal change. He only touches on the topic briefly in the last chapter, so why fixate on that one point? I didn't start reading this book expecting to find all of our answers by the end.

I'll also disagree with the positive reviewers that describe this book as any more than a historical brief. There are events in this book that are briefly touched on, and that I now wish to read much more about. The actual aim of the book is to frame what the 2016 election was really about. On that side of things, I found the book agreeable.

While I was reading I wondered if the book misunderstood the concept it describes as the "Emerald City." I couldn't help but think of Steven Pinker's book Enlightment Now. That book makes the point that the wider society, including those of us not doing well financially, have more and better access to creature comforts than ever before. He describes modern day life for a person with modest income having features and benefits that higher classes didn't have many decades ago. Point being, if we were already in the Emerald City, would we even know it? Perhaps we didn't fail to reach the Emerald City, but instead failed to recognize it altogether. We're facing new challenges, wrought by globalization as Mr. Bacevich correctly points out.

On reflection, I think his point is that the Emerald City was always an illusion (hence the awful title of the book). If that's the case, he's definitely right. I think he makes a good point that the end of the cold war resulted in taking our foot off the brakes. The national debt would seem to confirm this.

Anyway I'm sure I have much more to contemplate and learn about this from Mr. Bacevich. I found out about his book on the Bloggingheads podcast. I had stopped about 10 minutes in because the topic was interesting, then resumed after finishing the book. All in all, I'm quite glad I've listened.

Needs an update

I wonder if today, 5/21/2020, nearing the utterly avoidable loss of 100,000 American lives, the author would still feel that concerns about the Trump Presidency’s destructiveness were overblown. I wonder how the last chapter might read after we witnessed the president try to extort US states over PPE the way he did with the Ukrainian President last year that resulted in his impeachment.

I wonder.

Best explanation of US politics I can find

Bacevich puts the last quarter century of US history, which is what I needed to understand the US today. He is not kind to Trump, but his main argument is a criticism of the world order that American promoted as after apparently “winning” the Cold War: freedom, manifest as globalized neoliberalism, militarism, consumerism and presidential power. Sorry for all the isms, he writes better. So the 2016 election was most importantly a rejection of this status quo and its array of intolerably out-of-touch candidates. It signals a deeper shift that Trump was really the first to recognize, and is only a transitory figure. What the future holds, the author leaves pretty wide open, but he recognizes climate change as the galvanizing issue of our time. Overall highly highly recommend.

Afternote: as the millennial I am, I thought his military perspective was particularly enlightening. In places his cultural observations were thin, but still accurate and approached with humility.

Excellent analysis of the “End of History” Era

I am a progressive so expected to be at odds with the analysis of more conservative thinker. However Bacevich stands outside of the current left/right paradigms and offers a valuable critique of the post fall of communism world. His insights into how America got it wrong and how he weaves Trumpism into the historical context is excellent. He shows how Trump is a symptom and not a cause. Outstanding and important read.

An explanation of the rise of Trump

Andrew Bacevich presents a valuable lesson of why we have Trump. He traces our history to show why we created him.

A great way to get focused on why the past matters

Great book. Explains and reviews many of the causes of our current situation. Excellent for those who wish to be as clear headed as possible going forward as informed Americans or as fellow citizens of the world.

Objective and to the point

Bacevich always gives a unique perspective. Tell it how it is. Critiques both sides and is fair in his opinion. The country needs honest men like him. I’ve been a fan ever since I read his book America’s war for the greater Middle East.

meticulous accessibility

Professor Bacevich pulls you into our current state of affairs and the key events that contributed to the downfall of decency and with the need for empty victory in favor of crucial progress. Without refrain he holds up a mirror to us and our forgotten history lending itself to a much needed lesson.

"peace has cost you your strength, victory has defeated you."

A very good very much needed book. The best analys

If Professor Bacevich is best known as a war historian, and is probably the best known war historian, you'll probably expect this to be a book about war... And it is true what the book's dust jacket says: the primary thesis of this book is that the United States has squandered it's triumph over Russia in the cold War. Bacevich illustrates this claim amply, and it is very interesting, and sobering.
But the book is so much more: a nearly up-to-the-moment analysis of the intersection of international policy and politics in a blow-by-blow president by president rundown of the post cold war Era.
His takes on all contemporary politicians are well informed, realistic and right on point.

While this is a quick read, it carries more than its weight in valuable insights. I am pretty convinced.


Give 'The Age of Illusions' a try. I recommend it. £

Sobering Bit of Analysis

It matters when a conservative military officer is disgusted with the whole status quo because he has every incentive to go along and become wealthy by the prevailing system. So this book, like many others currently available, is another argument that this country's glory days are behind us if a fundamental change doesn't happen soon.
personally speaking I doubt that it'll change.

Gut-wrenching truths...

Just now and again comes a book that reveals a hidden truth that lies in plain sight.

If you are American this book does just that...now an important thing to note...

Whether you are blue or red....you really got to read this book!

Things will really never look the same again I’m sure.... but some delusions really need to be laid to rest...and an underline truth embraced...

I’d expect this type of analysis from the left.... but never from the right which make it all the more authentic...one of the few books I’ve already decided to read again even before I finished reading it for the first time.

Turns a lot of perceived wisdom on its head...

“like the idea, the US has dispensed with conscription”

It’s the ‘choice ‘when there really is no ‘choice’

How did the Hollywood movie so succinctly put it...? “You can’t handle the truth”?