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The Decline and Fall of the American Empire (The Real Story Series) | 
 enlarge | Author: Gore Vidal
Publisher: Odonian Press
Category: Book
List Price: $8.00
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Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 232337
Media: Paperback
Pages: 96
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7 x 1.8 x 0.7
ISBN: 1878825003
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.92
EAN: 9781878825001
ASIN: 1878825003
Publication Date: July 1, 2002
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Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Very good condition
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Product Description
Six essays on the theme of empire and republic, with particular focus on the national security state and the failure of the U.S. economic system./P>
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| Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...
 A sobering look at Mom's apple pie Empire April 29, 1998
S. Ferguson
67 out of 69 found this review helpful
It will not be easy for any of us who love our country to face the assertions Gore Vidal makes in this book, but this is exactly what we need to wake up from the current miasma of smoke-and-mirrors spin. Perhaps the proliferation of conspiracy theories is a symptom of what we all suspect, but are in denial about. Vidal confronts us with the cold hard facts: 90% of the disbursements of the federal government go to defense; our language has grown decadent and is used to disguise; the corporations control opinion through the conglomerate media; in 1991, 37% of federal revenues (taxes) came from individuals and only 8% from corporations. Reading this book will be worth the anguish it causes you. If Thomas Jefferson could see that his beloved country was being ruled by an elite through armies of lawyers, lobbyists, and paid-for-scientists, he would warn us all that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance; and this is precisely what Gore Vidal is attempting to do.
A Superb Polemic March 25, 2002
The Orange Duke (Cupertino, Ca United States)
53 out of 54 found this review helpful
Gore Vidal has the power to drive conservatives insane, I can't say why, but the mere mention of his name seems to turn them into screaming maniacs, that alone would make this book worth owning. In addition to its value as a heart attack inducer, it is also easy reading, witty and well written. I especially enjoyed his vicious attack on the Christian Church (which he refers to as the cult of the `Sky God'). He is also right on target with his assessment of the pervasive dangerous of corporate power. This slim volume is not a scholarly tome by any means, but Vidal's strength is in the way that he says things, not in the way that he backs up his assessment. Less a stunning indictment than a readable, witty summing up of the Vidal take on several important topics. A superb little pamphlet.
Vidal sets record staight August 5, 2000
42 out of 49 found this review helpful
Gore speaks wisdom. For those turned off by the corrupt state of American politics this book is required reading. Our political system has been taken over (wait a minute, hijacked) by corporate america and its cronies in Washington D.C. The "War on Drugs" is nothing more than a war on minorities and civil liberties. The national media is nothing more than a mouth piece for the well-off and elite. The "Cold War" was basically military-industrial complex wellfare scheme. Gore Vidal cuts through the bull s--t to show that the American people have been taken for a ride by the political establishment whose sole purpose is for the protection of the very elite. By the way; I am 37 years old. Not 12.
Why can one man see what so many fail to see? December 11, 2002
Tim Johnson (Fremantle, Australia)
41 out of 46 found this review helpful
I'd like to think that I understand how the puzzle pieces fit together but I need people like Vidal to illuminate the connections, to see the picture rather than the mass of pieces strewn on the table. To take the metaphor further, he provides the picture on the puzzle box that shows you what you will eventually have when the pieces are together.
I find that with the daily blizzard of new's facts coming into my house that it's like sitting down to a twenty thousand piece jigsaw that strangely has no border.
Vidal throws out bits of history and then provides the connections allowing a picture to form-seemingly from random occurrences. I found after reading this wonderful, insightful little book that all the disparate post-WWII facts came together. Yes-call me stupid for not seeing the connections earlier but my defense is this continuous blizzard of facts that shower me-this blizzard is in itself designed to do just what it is doing to me and millions of others.
One little bit from this tiny read-living as I do in Australia, I could never see why what happened to Clinton happened-everybody here knew he was being undermined since he came into office. We didn't get much coverage of his attempt to rework the healthcare system-Vidal says very matter of factly that Clinton's attempt at this reworking was his undoing. The conservatives that orchestrated his downfall didn't want Americans to have what people in nearly every other government in the developed world have-what we in Australia take for granted-universal health care.
I'm sorry most Americans will miss reading this book because they will see it as "devil phoolosophy"-the powers at work have done a fabulous job for themselves.
Gore Vidal's American Reality Check July 17, 2001
Kenneth R. Kahn (Baltimore, Maryland)
28 out of 29 found this review helpful
The beauty of Vidal's volume is that it establishes signposts, dates, events, places marking historically important events. To say that the American empire is in decline sounds like just more left-wing doctrine. To document that assertion, Vidal places a date--September 16, 1985--during the roaring, go-go, Reagan years--when America changed from a creditor to a debtor nation, and has been there ever since.Combining dates with events and revealations of the names and identities of the men behind the men in power marks a significant departure by documenting the rise and fall. The fear of accepting the reality of failure is a heavy burden empires must accept. Like the lives of people, empires do not go on forever. Americans cannot imagine a world without American military, political and economic hegemony (this is what happens when one believes the hype). Vidal traces the history--the 1914 shift of capital from New York to London, the men of power who created American foreign policy, the establishment of the national security state in 1947 and the place of America in the world. He ends with practical solutions to the decline and fall. Vidal's style is hard-hitting, real, well-documented and informed. The volume is worth reading and re-reading. The sinking feeling, the giant sucking sound of America heading south is on every page. The "Decline and Fall" is the ultimate reality check.
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