In the spirit of unabashed dog-eat-dog, no-holds-barred capitalism, I hasten to inform you that the second edition of my first book, How the West Was Lost, is now available from Amazon UK, various other websites, some of the more discerning bookshops, or direct from the publisher, I.B. Tauris, London.
Moreover, to take some pressure off your Christmas shopping, it comes in paperback and electronic versions, whose derisory prices mean you won’t need to take out a mortgage to buy a copy (which regrettably was the case while the book was out of print).
My publisher might object to the adjective ‘derisory’, opting for ‘reasonable’ instead. But he’s unlikely to read this, his capacity for absorbing my prose having been exhausted by this book. What he definitely will welcome is this abbreviated list of the over-flattering accolades the book drew the first time around:
“How the West Was Lost argues that all modern upheavals – the Reformation, the English, American, French and Russian revolutions, the Napoleonic wars, the American Civil War, both World Wars – can only be seen in the context of an assault on the core values of the West.” – I.B. Tauris
“There are many wise ideas in this book.” – Roger Scruton
“A startlingly clear analysis of why we have become what we are, written with such admirable clarity and wit that news of humanity’s defeat seems almost bearable. No one who claims to know anything should open their mouth in public without reading it.” – Fay Weldon
“Highly original… an extremely important argument even for those who have no religious belief, and Alexander Boot puts it more unflinchingly, more courageously, than anyone else.” – Theodore Dalrymple
“Those reading Alexander Boot’s vigorous and witty assault on the modern superstitions of progress and science will never see the world in the same way again. A refreshing and original voice.” – James Le Fanu
“At last! Someone with the courage to say the unsayable: that we can be for liberty while detesting some of the ways in which liberty is achieved.” – Digby Anderson
“Alexander Boot puts his finger precisely on the malaise affecting Western societies. His book is the most readable account of the decline of the West since Spengler, and serenely free from contamination of academic jargon. It should be read by politicians, teachers and anyone who has anything to do with public administration. We should all read it. Twice.” – Peter Mullen
“A second Spengler.” – Kontinent Magazine [I don’t take this as a compliment, but it was meant that way.]
There are quite a few more, but you get the idea. Don’t you?
P.S. How the West Was Lost gives a broad overview of various aspects of modernity, establishing an intellectual base for making the whole intelligible. This system of thought provides a starting point for delving more deeply into those aspects one by one. Two of my subsequent (or, in relation to this second edition, previous) books did just that. The Crisis Behind our Crisis ponders economics, while Democracy as a Neocon Trick looks at politics, and both or either would be a useful complement to The West (to say nothing of your Christmas shopping).