Civilization and Its Enemies

This book is far away from the boilerplate rhetoric generally found in right-wing polemics. Harris comes across as a classicist, philosopher and historian. We in the West have been civilized and safe for so long that we have forgotten the concept of "the enemy". The enemy is a threat to our survival......more

Unlike those who see the terrorist attacks of 9/11 as the outbreak of a new war between radical Muslims and modern Americans, Harris views those attacks as the decisive reemergence of an ancient cultural conflict stretching back to Sparta and Rome. Elaborating on three controversial articles origina......more

This was, for me, a new way to look at world history, as not so much a clash of civilizations (although that occurs) but as a war between civilization and its opposite, which he terms ruthless gangs. He compares societies where the primary loyalty is to the family, clan, or group, and societies wher......more

According to my records/notes I own a copy of this one in hard copy, but wonder if that's really true. In any case, I gave this a four star rating back in 2012, and I'm upping it to a five-star rating just because it seems so absolutely relevant today, perhaps more so than it did the last time. Harri......more

At first I was sympathetic with the author's viewpoint. The truth is that our society has become much too relativistic. I can state with verity that there are some cultural values that are better than others. I also agree that you can't negotiate with a terrorist organization. They don't live in or......more