Berman - Dark Ages America: The Final Phase of Empire

It is usual in sad reports like Professor Bermans to stop abruptly the litany of what has gone wrong and then declare, hand on heart, that once the people have been informed of what is happening, the truth will set them free and a quarter-billion candles will be lit and the darkness will flee in the presence of so much spontaneous light. But Berman is much too serious for the easy platitude. Instead he tells us that those who might have struck at least a match can no longer do so because shared information about our situation is meager to nonexistent. Mr. Berman spares us the happy ending, as, apparently, has history.

Gore Vidal, President Jonah, Truthdig.com

A resoundingindictment of all that is wrong with American culture, from arrogance to xenophobia and all points between. Berman fires with both barrels at a culture that, he argues, is rapidly slipping into second-or third-rate status as an international power. Theres no room for comfort in Bermans critique: If hes right, were doomed. Hope hes wrong, then, but by all means consider his provocative argument.

Kirkus Reviews

Berman has put together the most comprehensive critique of how far out on the precipice we stand that I have yet seen. The repeal of Bretton Woods and ensuing devastation of the world economy by finance capitalism play out like Gibbons great work on Rome. He is relentless in his analysisand we ignore what he writes at our peril. Maybe it is too late to turn back, but Bermans book draws on commentaries left and right to instruct us on surviving the fall.

Lloyd Gardner, research professor of history at Rutgers University

Morris Berman makes a compelling case, at once learned, passionate, and sensible, that the United States is a civilization in crisis, and that it may well lack the ability to face it. Bringing his deep knowledge of social and cultural history to bear, Berman shows that the shadow side of America that has always come with Americas promise of individualism and reliance on the market and technologya pervasive deficit of empathy and caring for others and for the public goodhas profound implications for its decline as a nation as well as its reckless militarism abroad. Anyone who wants unsparing truth rather than comforting nostrums must read Dark Ages America .

Gareth Porter, author of Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam

Drawing heavily on Enlightenment values, modern sociology, and just plain common sense, Morris Berman dissects contemporary American culture with the skill of a heart surgeon. He argues that out-of-control individualism, consumerism, and faith in technology have left Americans vulnerable to both internal corrosion and international attack. Dark Ages America is essential reading for anyone grappling with our current set of political, social, and economic dilemmas.

Ferenc Morton Szasz, Regents Professor of History, University of New Mexico