John Denson, in a book that covers the history of America’s large wars from 1860 through the Cold War, describes the twentieth century was the bloodiest in all history—not coincidentally a century of statism. His book is A Century of War: Lincoln, Wilson, and Roosevelt.
More than 170 million people were killed by governments with 10 million having been killed in World War I and 50 million killed in World II. Of the 50 million killed in World War II, nearly 70 percent were innocent civilians, many as a result of the bombing of cities by Great Britain and America.
The horror of the twentieth century could hardly have been predicted in the nineteenth century, which saw the eighteenth century end with the American Revolution bringing about the creation of the first classical liberal government in the world. What bought it about? How can it be prevented in the future? These are the concerns that animate this work.
Denson recounts how the wars that destroyed American liberty came about through a series of deceitful political ploys. He discusses how Lincoln worked to provoke the South into firing the first shot, and how he used that shot as the pretext for total war. Wilson learned from this experience in working to get the US involved in World War I, which established a precedent for the planning state. FDR similarly engaged in political maneuvering to prepare a reluctant public for war.
Denson provides a close examination of the rise of executive dictatorship, and demonstrates how far from the founders’ vision of government we have come. It explains how world peace can only come through the practice of free trade and free markets, and why large government can only create conflict both domestic and international.
The Denson book is a wonderful presentation of a position that was more mainstream in the 1930s and the 1990s: the unity of libertarian economics with a pro-peace foreign policy position. This position is far too rare in American life. This eye-opening treatment of history will go a long way toward restoring this proper libertarian perspective in American life.
Softcover, 207 pages plus index.
{ 9 comments }
Really?
So who funded the creation of the totalitarian systems of govt in Germany, Russia, Italy etc.
Who was it that dispatched material to keep those outfits going?
Sione
Is this a new book? or just a collection of Denson’s writings found in The Costs of War and Reassessing the Presidency? I don’t want to purchase the book and discover it to be the same material that I already have in the above mentioned books.
Place of publication? Date of publication? Publisher? ISBN?
All the books in the Mises catalog should have this information… The more info there is, the more useful it is to the user.
I’m asking the library at my alma mater to buy this book. I can’t simply tell them to buy everything the LvMI sells or to buy the whole Laissez-Faire Books catalog! Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way… ;o)
Best regards from the foot of the Mont-Pèlerin,
Christoph
Place of publication? Date of publication? Publisher? ISBN?
All the books in the Mises catalog should have this information… The more info there is, the more useful it is to the user.
I’m asking the library at my alma mater to buy this book. I can’t simply tell them to buy everything the LvMI sells or to buy the whole Laissez-Faire Books catalog! Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way… ;o)
Best regards from the foot of the Mont-Pèlerin,
Christoph
Sione raises a good point. Did Lincoln trick the Southern states into seceding? Did Wilson encourage Germany, Austria and Turkey to invade their neighbor’s? Did Roosevelt campaign for Hitler and Japan to rape and pillage? About 100 million murders in the 20th century were committed by socialists in Nazi Germany, the USSR, China and Cambodia where the governments murdered their own people. That figure doesn’t include the citizens of other nations that Germany and the USSR attacked and killed in war.
Roger M,
You are a fool. Go post on neo-con or
Republican (to the extent there is a
difference) websites, where your views are more
in line.
Back to the main question: this book looks
great, but is it in fact new material, or a
collection of old essays?
My question was directed at a post which no longer appears here.
The answer to the question includes entities within the US such as the Federal govt. itself.
The book looks to be a must read. Time to go out and get a copy and learn up some more about how the last century turned out to be such a dangerous time for freedom and life in general.
Sione
Dan:”You are a fool.”
The brilliance of your reasoning and logic is overwhelming. I’m ashamed of my own lack of language skills compared to yours. The sheer eloquence of your reply makes me want to stick my head in an oven and turn on the gas.
Nevertheless, due to my utter lack of intelligence, I have a hard time grasping your meaning. Do you mean to say that no one who opposes any aspect of libertarianism is allowed to speak up on this site? I find that hard to accept because that seems more fitting for socialists than libertarians. Or do you mean that you’re tired of being proven wrong and just wish I would go away? Or possibly you mean that every libertarian is infallible, like the Pope, and should never be challenged?
to roger m.:
if it’s nanking you’re referring to, i’d suggest its veracity is questionable. i, too, was guilty of ignorance:
http://www.sdh-fact.com/CL02_1/64_S4.pdf
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