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The Age of Illusions
- How America Squandered Its Cold War Victory
- Narrated by: Andrew Bacevich, Rob Shapiro
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
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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
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Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Brian
- 02-20-20
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.
5 people found this helpful
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- Scott Burton
- 05-24-20
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.
4 people found this helpful
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- Ryan Taylor
- 05-08-20
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.
2 people found this helpful
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- Brad
- 02-22-20
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.
2 people found this helpful
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- Norm the Nonfiction Reader
- 02-13-20
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.
2 people found this helpful
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- Steve Avery
- 01-14-20
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.
2 people found this helpful
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- Abbas
- 01-24-21
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.
1 person found this helpful
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- Hahnsolo
- 01-11-20
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."
1 person found this helpful
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- Todd
- 09-04-20
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. £
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- NatsFan
- 05-29-20
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.
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- Paul Murphy
- 06-11-20
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”?
1 person found this helpful
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Interesting but rambles
- By K on 02-17-21
By: Barry Gewen
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The Death of Politics
- How to Heal Our Frayed Republic After Trump
- By: Peter Wehner
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Frustrated and feeling betrayed, Americans have come to loathe politics with disastrous results, argues Peter Wehner. In this timely manifesto, the veteran of three Republican administrations and man of faith offers a reasoned and persuasive argument for restoring “politics” as a worthy calling to a cynical and disillusioned generation of Americans.
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review
- By Amazon Customer on 06-23-19
By: Peter Wehner
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The MAGA Doctrine
- The Only Ideas That Will Win the Future
- By: Charlie Kirk
- Narrated by: Timothy McKean
- Length: 6 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The Tea Party began as a protest for patriots who feared Big Government. President Trump has become a hero for patriots who are against Big Everything. Fed up with Silicon Valley, the media, liberal higher education, the military-industrial complex, Twitter mobs, swamp monsters, Big Pharma, out-of-control prosecutors, and gun-grabbing fascists, ordinary Americans miss the days when America cared about rule of the people, by the people, and for the people.
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MAGA
- By Matt gray on 03-05-20
By: Charlie Kirk
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Trumpocalypse
- Restoring American Democracy
- By: David Frum
- Narrated by: David Frum
- Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A huge swath of Americans have put their faith in Trump, and Trump only, because they see the rest of the country building a future that doesn't have a place for them. If they would risk their lives for Trump in a pandemic, they will certainly risk the stability of American democracy. They brought the Trumpocalypse upon the country, and a post-Trumpocalypse country will have to find a way either to reconcile them to democracy - or to protect democracy from them.
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Trump More Dangerous Than the Axis of Evil
- By J.B. on 05-26-20
By: David Frum
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After the Apocalypse
- America's Role in a World Transformed
- By: Andrew Bacevich
- Narrated by: Peter Coyote
- Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The purpose of US foreign policy has, at least theoretically, been to keep Americans safe. Yet as we confront a radically changed world, it has become indisputably clear that the terms of that policy have failed. Washington’s insistence that a market economy is compatible with the common good, its faith in the idea of the “West” and its “special relationships”, its conviction that global military primacy is the key to a stable and sustainable world order - these have brought endless wars and a succession of moral and material disasters.
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Full of chronicled opportunities lost
- By marwalk on 05-23-22
By: Andrew Bacevich
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Code Red
- How Progressives and Moderates Can Unite to Save Our Country
- By: E.J. Dionne Jr.
- Narrated by: Adam Barr, E.J. Dionne Jr.
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Will progressives and moderates feud while America burns? Or will these natural allies take advantage of the greatest opportunity since the New Deal Era to strengthen American democracy, foster social justice, and turn back the threats of the Trump Era? In Code Red, award-winning journalist E. J. Dionne, Jr., calls for a shared commitment to decency and a politics focused on freedom, fairness, and the future, encouraging progressives and moderates to explore common ground and expand the unity that brought about Democrat victories in the 2018 elections.
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Misses the mark
- By Amazon Customer on 11-27-20
By: E.J. Dionne Jr.
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The Inevitability of Tragedy
- Henry Kissinger and His World
- By: Barry Gewen
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 18 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Few public officials have provoked such intense controversy as Henry Kissinger. During his time in the Nixon and Ford administrations, he came to be admired and hated in equal measure. Notoriously, he believed that foreign affairs ought to be based primarily on the power relationships of a situation, not simply on ethics. He went so far as to argue that under certain circumstances America had to protect its national interests even if that meant repressing other countries' attempts at democracy.
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Interesting but rambles
- By K on 02-17-21
By: Barry Gewen
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The Death of Politics
- How to Heal Our Frayed Republic After Trump
- By: Peter Wehner
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Frustrated and feeling betrayed, Americans have come to loathe politics with disastrous results, argues Peter Wehner. In this timely manifesto, the veteran of three Republican administrations and man of faith offers a reasoned and persuasive argument for restoring “politics” as a worthy calling to a cynical and disillusioned generation of Americans.
-
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review
- By Amazon Customer on 06-23-19
By: Peter Wehner
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The MAGA Doctrine
- The Only Ideas That Will Win the Future
- By: Charlie Kirk
- Narrated by: Timothy McKean
- Length: 6 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
-
Story
The Tea Party began as a protest for patriots who feared Big Government. President Trump has become a hero for patriots who are against Big Everything. Fed up with Silicon Valley, the media, liberal higher education, the military-industrial complex, Twitter mobs, swamp monsters, Big Pharma, out-of-control prosecutors, and gun-grabbing fascists, ordinary Americans miss the days when America cared about rule of the people, by the people, and for the people.
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MAGA
- By Matt gray on 03-05-20
By: Charlie Kirk
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Trumpocalypse
- Restoring American Democracy
- By: David Frum
- Narrated by: David Frum
- Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A huge swath of Americans have put their faith in Trump, and Trump only, because they see the rest of the country building a future that doesn't have a place for them. If they would risk their lives for Trump in a pandemic, they will certainly risk the stability of American democracy. They brought the Trumpocalypse upon the country, and a post-Trumpocalypse country will have to find a way either to reconcile them to democracy - or to protect democracy from them.
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Trump More Dangerous Than the Axis of Evil
- By J.B. on 05-26-20
By: David Frum
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The Light That Failed
- Why the West Is Losing the Fight for Democracy
- By: Ivan Krastev, Stephen Holmes
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Why did the West, after winning the Cold War, lose its political balance? In the early 1990s, hopes for the eastward spread of liberal democracy were high. And yet the transformation of Eastern European countries gave rise to a bitter repudiation of liberalism itself, not only there but also back in the heartland of the West. In this brilliant work of political history, Ivan Krastev and Stephen Holmes argue that the supposed end of Communism turned out to be only the beginning of the age of the autocrat.
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Great text
- By Safronov on 05-03-21
By: Ivan Krastev, and others
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The Limits of Power
- The End of American Exceptionalism
- By: Andrew Bacevich
- Narrated by: Eric Conger
- Length: 5 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The Limits of Power identifies a profound triple crisis facing America: the economy, in remarkable disarray, can no longer be fixed by relying on expansion abroad; the government, transformed by an imperial presidency, is a democracy in form only; U.S. involvement in endless wars, driven by a deep infatuation with military power, has been a catastrophe for the body politic. If the nation is to solve its predicament, it will need the revival of a distinctly American approach.
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Disturbing
- By Frank on 10-23-08
By: Andrew Bacevich
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Democracy Incorporated
- Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism
- By: Sheldon S. Wolin
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Sheldon Wolin considers the unthinkable: has America unwittingly morphed into a new and strange kind of political hybrid, one where economic and state powers are conjoined and virtually unbridled? Can the nation check its descent into what the author terms "inverted totalitarianism"? Wolin portrays a country where citizens are politically uninterested and submissive - and where elites are eager to keep them that way.
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Essential listening....
- By M. Levine on 02-25-11
By: Sheldon S. Wolin
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The Dying Citizen
- How Progressive Elites, Tribalism, and Globalization Are Destroying the Idea of America
- By: Victor Davis Hanson
- Narrated by: James Edward Thomas
- Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Human history is full of the stories of peasants, subjects, and tribes. Yet the concept of the “citizen” is historically rare — and was among America’s most valued ideals for over two centuries. But without shock treatment, warns historian Victor Davis Hanson, American citizenship as we have known it may soon vanish.
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From an uneducated reader;
- By wbc on 10-12-21