Suggested reading

I usually read fiction (mysteries mostly). But every now and then I read nonfiction that more than repays the effort. During the past year, I read three books that I thought were exceptional. All three are histories or historical narratives of sorts. I will discuss them in the order in which I read them.

The Forgotten Man, by Amity Shlaes. This book recounts FDR's economic policies and concludes, as have many economists, that many of those policies actually worsened and prolonged the Great Depression. It is undisputed that the Great Depression lasted until this country entered World War II, an occurrence that FDR worked hard to bring about. There is no question that FDR's vigor and (apparent) confidence buoyed the nation's spirits. Unfortunately, many of his policies and programs proved to be economically perverse. This book, which just came out in paperback, is fascinating and informative.

Liberal Fascism, by Jonah Goldberg. This best-selling book has certainly caused a great deal of controversy. The title, itself, has raised a lot of hackles. Tellingly, a significant number of the reviewers who are critical of the book are apparently unaware that the title is actually a phrase coined by H.G. Wells in a speech that he gave at Oxford in 1932. Maybe those "reviewers" didn't bother to read the book.

Goldberg's thesis is that fascism is a form of socialism and is closely related to communism (the term "Nazi" is shorthand for National Socialism, the German Worker's Party). I learned a lot of fascinating information about the Wilson Administration that they didn't teach in school. The book also contains an extensive discussion of the early Progressive Movement both in this country and abroad (H.G. Wells was hugely influential in that movement). The book is both very readable and extensively documented.

War and Decision, by Douglas Feith. Mr. Feith was the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy during the first four years of the George W. Bush administration. He was deeply involved in the formulation of the strategies underlying the war on terror, including the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. His boss, Don Rumsfeld, wanted everything significant put in writing, so this book is very densely documented. It provides a detailed refutation of the cartoonish portrayal of the decisions made by the Bush administration presented by much of the mainstream media and antiwar politicians.

The book is not an apologia; it criticizes several of the key decisions made by the administration, especially as regards Iraq. But if you want to know why we did what we did militarily after 9/11, you should read this book.

One book I have not read and do not intend to read is What Happened by Scott McClellan. The reason is not that the book is critical of the Bush administration -- Goldberg and Feith's books contain trenchant criticisms of the Bush administration. Rather, I am not bothering to read McClellan's book, because, as far as I can tell, McClellan doesn't really know what happened.

In recent interviews, Feith has noted that McClellan was not present at any of the meetings where Bush's military and foreign policies were discussed and determined. McClellan was not on the National Security Council, and apparently did not have a high-level security clearance.

Robert Novak, in a recent column, pointed out that McClellan seems unaware that Richard Armitage at the State Department, not Karl Rove or Scooter Libby, identified Valerie Plame as a CIA employee who got her husband, Joseph Wilson, assigned to travel to Niger. In short, Scott McClellan seems clueless as to what really happened in the Bush Administration.