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Victor Davis Hanson

The Dying Citizen: How Progressive Elites, Tribalism, and Globalization Are Destroying the Idea of America Hardcover – October 5, 2021

by Victor Davis Hanson (Author)

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The New York Times bestselling author of The Case for Trump explains the decline and fall of the once cherished idea of American citizenship.

Human history is full of the stories of peasants, subjects, and tribes. Yet the concept of the “citizen” is historically rare—and was among America’s most valued ideals for over two centuries. But without shock treatment, warns historian Victor Davis Hanson, American citizenship as we have known it may soon vanish.

In The Dying Citizen, Hanson outlines the historical forces that led to this crisis. The evisceration of the middle class over the last fifty years has made many Americans dependent on the federal government. Open borders have undermined the idea of allegiance to a particular place. Identity politics have eradicated our collective civic sense of self. And a top-heavy administrative state has endangered personal liberty, along with formal efforts to weaken the Constitution.

As in the revolutionary years of 1848, 1917, and 1968, 2020 ripped away our complacency about the future. But in the aftermath, we as Americans can rebuild and recover what we have lost. The choice is ours.

Print length

432 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Basic Books
Publication date

October 5, 2021
Dimensions

6.4 x 1.75 x 9.6 inches
ISBN-10

154164753X
ISBN-13

978-1541647534
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Editorial Reviews

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“Mr. Hanson, an accomplished classicist and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, is one of the great amalgamators of American political writing. He has a particular gift for bringing together a dizzying array of events, controversies and ideas and making sense of them by advancing a coherent argument that incorporates thousands of years of history… Mr. Hanson hits hard, but I don’t find his analysis unfair or partisan. There is enormous value, moreover, in thinking about toxic political developments not as problems of the moment but as destructive pathologies to which all societies are prone at all times.”―Wall Street Journal

“Indispensable… Hanson’s immensely erudite and inspiriting book offers a most welcome corrective to those influential forces and doctrines in our midst that conspire to delegitimize the citizen and citizenship as such. In doing so, he provides us with hope that our society still has within it significant powers of rejuvenation.”―National Review

“As Victor Davis Hanson shows in his learned, powerful, and troubling new book, The Dying Citizen, the steady devolution of citizenship speaks volumes about where we are today and where we seem to be heading… Hanson lays out this grim diagnosis with his usual clarity and brilliance, moving easily from his deep specialized knowledge of the ancient Greek and Roman world through savvy observations about present-day politics and American society.”―The New Criterion

“A powerful and carefully developed argument for preserving American citizenship.”―American Thinker

“Required reading for all those who seriously want to engage in the fieriest issues of our days at their most thoughtful levels of depth.”―Epoch Times

“Hanson is well-positioned to describe the evolution of citizenship from ancient times through the modern era, and especially the assumptions about citizenship underlying America's constitutional order… Hanson presents, clearly and concisely, a case that critics will struggle to refute. His troubling argument has far-reaching implications. The Dying Citizen is a book that all Americans should read, then discuss with friends and neighbors.”―Claremont Review of Books

“Among public intellectuals writing within a secular framework about America’s troubles, Victor Davis Hanson towers above the rest.”―First Things

“The Dying Citizen is essential reading for any American who cares about the fate of our nation.”―Mark R. Levin

“In The Dying Citizen, Victor Davis Hanson shows once again why he is America's premier scholar, writer, and political observer. Drawing on his training as a classicist, and clearly informed by his deep personal experience living and farming in California's San Joaquin Valley, Hanson has written a tour de force on the history, rights, and responsibilities of modern citizenship, and the galaxy of forces that are undermining the concept of American citizenship today. Immensely enlightening but also deeply unsettling, The Dying Citizen is a wake-up call for our countrymen who want to preserve the American ideal for future generations.”―Rep. Devin Nunes

“Citizenship brings all the enduring principles of democracy into the sphere of the individual. It honors the human need for a collective identity even as it makes room for the individual to pursue happiness. In this remarkably illuminating book, Victor Davis Hanson shows how so many contemporary problems—identity politics, the border crisis, bloated government, etc.—have only worsened for the lack of a vigorous and clarifying idea of citizenship. In this deeply democratic idea, Hanson points to a way beyond what ails us.”
―Shelby Steele, author of Shame

“Politicians often speak to “my fellow citizens,” implying a kind of common project among all citizens. In America, that project is our shared devotion to our founding principles. Victor Davis Hanson explains in The Dying Citizen, however, that this uniquely American concept of citizenship is imperiled—whether from ancient threats like economic stagnation, open borders, and racial discord, or modern ones like unelected bureaucrats, anti-Constitution progressives, and globalists. As only he can, Hanson weaves together history, philosophy, and contemporary headlines to diagnose our current woes and to remind them that the cure lies in what is best in them and in America.”―Senator Tom Cotton

“Victor Davis Hanson’s book is not a complaint nor a polemic but rather a fine-grained diagnosis of a very serious disease. Its symptoms are all around us: the fragmentation of America’s national identity by the assertion of not merely separate but separatist identities with the vehement support of the most privileged of all Americans. May this brilliant diagnosis lead us to a cure.”―Edward N. Luttwak, author of The Rise of China vs. the Logic of Strategy

“The great glory of the democratic revolution of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was extending the blessings of citizenship to anyone and everyone who embraced the principles and responsibilities of self-governing nations. As Victor Davis Hanson explains, by subtle degrees we’re reversing course, through a deliberate attempt to dilute and eventually erase national identity, sovereignty, borders, and the meaningful content of citizenship itself. But if everyone is a “citizen of everywhere,” it means they are citizens of nowhere, with the return of autocratic rule the final result. The hour is late, and we have Hanson to thank for this capacious account of what we need to recover.”―Steven F. Hayward, author of Patriotism Is Not Enough

“This is not a drill—this is the real thing. If you don’t believe that the survival of the American republic hangs in the balance, you must read Victor Davis Hanson’s relentless exposition of the facts. America’s free citizenry is at imminent risk of defeat at the hands of an unelected Deep State allied to a globalist elite that flouts American law with impunity and plans to jettison the Constitution. Even if you think you’re informed and alarmed about these trends, Hanson’s brilliant presentation will leave you much better prepared to address these dangers. Get this book into the hands of everyone you know.”―David Goldman, deputy editor of Asia Times and author of You Will Be Assimilated

“Once again Victor Davis Hanson has written a masterly account of a great public affairs crisis. He has given a learned history of the concept and indispensability in a democracy of responsible citizenship; has perceptively chronicled how it has been undermined in the US; how Donald Trump in his sometimes frantic way tried to revive it, and of the tense but not unhopeful current prospects. This book is a concise masterpiece that all serious citizens should read.”
―Conrad Black

“This is a book about an ongoing and threatening change of ‘regime,’ which means a change not only in how we are governed but also in how we live. To understand such a thing requires perspective: Victor Hanson is deeply educated in the classics, where knowledge of regimes was first developed. It also requires a close observation of what is happening today, about which he writes insightfully and in profusion. In this book, Hanson demonstrates yet again his command across time and for our time. This book and he are a treasure.”
―Larry P. Arnn, president of Hillsdale College

About the Author

Victor Davis Hanson is a senior fellow in military history at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and a professor emeritus of classics at California State University, Fresno. He is the author of over two dozen books, most recently The Case for Trump. He lives in Selma, California.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Basic Books (October 5, 2021)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 432 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 154164753X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1541647534
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.41 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.4 x 1.75 x 9.6 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,034 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3 in Nationalism (Books)
- #3 in Civics & Citizenship (Books)
- #7 in Civil Rights & Liberties (Books)

Customer Reviews:
2,645 ratings

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Victor Davis Hanson

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Victor Davis Hanson is Professor of Greek and Director of the Classics Program at California State University, Fresno. He is the author or editor of many books, including Who Killed Homer? The Demise of Classical Education and the Recovery of Greek Wisdom (with John Heath, Free Press, 1998), and The Soul of Battle (Free Press, 1999). In 1992 he was named the most outstanding undergraduate teacher of classics in the nation.

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Are you a Resident or a CITIZEN? This is

Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2021

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the question you’ll be able to answer after finishing “The Dying Citizen”, by Victor David Hanson.

Hanson is a senior fellow of military history and classics at the Hoover Institute at Stanford. He traces the history of citizenship back to its earliest days and follows the path to current conditions. It’s a heavy going and reads very much like a text book in parts. I was quite shocked to learn that most Americans have no clue what the First Amendment is, what the 3 branches of government are or who key historical figures are like Ulysses S. Grant or Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The book is broken up into 6 lengthy chapters that discuss:

1. PEASANTS - shrinking of the middle class
2. RESIDENTS - distinction between immigrants, residents & citizens; their right and laws
3. TRIBES - national identity vs. tribe identity; racism, bias and patriotism
4. UNELECTED - deep state, media, bureaucratic elite growing in power
5. EVOLUTIONARIES - dismantling the Constitution
6. GLOBALISTS - threat of globalism and loss of freedom, democracy

Each of these chapters is full of historical data leading up to our current situation with enough documentation to fill the last 20% of this volume. IMO, the best part of this book is the author’s epilogue. Hanson had cause to pen a lengthy update during the final editing process. In this chapter he pulls all the pieces together and summarizes including the last few months: “The stakes were no less than the preservation of the American republic itself.” A worthy read 📚

452 people found this helpful

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Tony Meyer

The greatest intellectual of our times!

Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2021

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Slam dunk, Victor Davis Hansen is the most outstanding intellectual of our times. He is a renaissance man - - being a top classicist, premier historian and perceptive political commentator of our changing world. And all this rolled into one! With his deep understanding of currrent events, and his vast understanding of history, Victor Davis Hansen delineates our caste system - - so to speak, and its history. It is not a nice word to pigeon-hole someone an "intellectual" in today's world, so i use that word sparingly. But with Victor Davis Hansen i utilize that word with admiration. When Prof Hansen speaks i listen. He inspires me to learn and to study plus ask questions. I say to everyone BON APETITE, as you feast on this new classic of Victor Davis Hansen. Even if you don't read this masterpiece, at least make it part of your permanent library,. Together with Thucydides, Winston Churchill, Mark Twain, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Thomas Jefferson and other great writers, also belongs Victor Davis Hansen.

302 people found this helpful

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Texas

A must read

Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2021

The Dying Citizen by historian Victor Davis Hansen is an impressive study chronicling the rise of the idea of democracy and concepts of what citizenship entailed as civilizations developed, thrived, and failed. He highlights the various classes that developed in Ancient Greece and Roman times that laid the foundation for our modern world leading to the most precious of documents…the Constitution of the United States. He then proceeds to point out the attacks coming from abroad (globalization) and domestically (leftist progressivism) that assail it. This is a book that should be read by all patriotic Americans who are aghast at the direction we’re heading. I voluntarily reviewed an advance copy of this book from NetGalley. Highly recommend.

175 people found this helpful

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Ronald E. Parsons

Read This Important Book About Lurking World Danger.

Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2021

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I don't believe I am exaggerating when I style Victor Davis Hanson's <The Dying Citizen> a tour de force. The writer of one of the blurbs recommending it expects it to become Hanson's magnum opus. The book's subtitle "How Progressive Elites, Tribalism, and Globalization Are Destroying the Idea of America" accurately describes the book's content.

<Dying Citizen> is divided into two parts. The 1st is "Precitizens." The 2nd is "Postcitizens." The overarching idea above each part is: Citizenship is the sine qua non for the successful existence of a nation-state. The book goes on to describe three (3) social classes that do not rise to the level of citizenship. A chapter is devoted to each class. Number #1 is Peasants. # 2 is Residents. #3 is Tribes.

The peasantry consists of persons who are beholden to an overlord. Some are tied to the land. Others aren't, but nevertheless have no say in affairs of state.

Residents are akin to persons who are simply passing through. They have little or no interest in the welfare of the place. They know their limitations

Tribesmen are customarily viewed as having responsibilities to immediate family and others in the tribe. A territory will ordinarily contain two or more tribes.

Every territory might begin with the above 3 classes. When the classes become fortunate enough to view the real importance of their being free individuals in a single territory, they will exist as a nation towards which they have serious responsibilities, just as they become 'protectees' (not the author's term) in common, of their nation. Such freeborn persons will become citizens.

Part Two, Postcitizens, describes what can happen when the citizenry of a nation begin to change or reverse the process described above. Such a revision, if agreed to by the citizenry, will likely be enough to allow the nation to continue in said status. It will be considered as ongoing success nationally.

But if the nation is unlucky, its citizenry will allow themselves to fall into a massive bureaucratic existence in which the bureaucrats begin to view themselves as overly-important to the state. Factions will come into existence. And if unable to resolve their differences, they can become insoluble, and as a further result, dissolution of one sort or another might come to pass. There can be civil war. There can be a dictatorship. There can even be a movement towards 'One-World' government, giving power to a United Nations sort of overseer, in which no one will be satisfied. World disorder and warfare, rather than being overcome, will become the prevailing status. Elements will revolt against a 'One-size-fits-all' type non- government. A world-citizenry will be forever unstable, despite the beliefs and efforts of the starry-eyed 'Globalists' who wish for unity.

This reviewer believes that author Victor Hanson fears such happenings can happen. This insignificant reviewer has similar fears, probably even deeper than the author's.

Above are set out this insignificant reviewer's 'take' upon having read this marvelous book by Victor Davis Hanson.

146 people found this helpful

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BrianBrawdy

The book is so well done it makes you just shake your head

Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2021

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It’s been said that once a handout is codified in law, no future politician will ever rescind the statute. Seems that once a lie is told by the deep state, it also will never be retracted.

125 people found this helpful

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Amazon Reader

Brilliant Thinker and Great accomplishment!

Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2021

Verified Purchase

I knew the book might be brilliant as the all previous ones,
but this one touch the most and deepest strings of our society
and our everyday's life. The sound is high and very well pitched.
Bravo Maestro!

104 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Nasty Handprint

Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2021

Verified Purchase

I am so looking forward to reading this title by this wonderful man. However my copy arrived with a disgusting dried handprint of a mysterious substance on the back dust cover. Snot? Bad deal Amazon.

69 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Jonathan Baldie

A warning call we would all do well to heed

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 7, 2021

Verified Purchase

I may be one of a few regular listener of VDH's weekly podcasts here in the UK, but I've always been impressed by his ability to quickly and effectively analyse current affairs. The Dying Citizen is no exception to this. Though it is a long book (I both read the Kindle edition and listened to the Audible audiobook) it is full of biting analysis of the dishonesty and corruption in America, which has knock-on effects on the UK's prospects.

Read this book with an open mind, and you will be surprised at how dishonestly the news media has been treating issues of great important to the West's future prosperity and safety. It may make you angry, but it will be an anger at how much we have been misled by those concentrating corrupt political power in their hands, and making us hate each other - doing real harm to vulnerable people. The Dying Citizen is a great reminder of where we have come from, and what we can lose if we don't hold onto our precious liberties.

20 people found this helpful

Thomas H. Burroughes

Good diagnosis overall: little analysis on how to progress

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 30, 2021

Verified Purchase

I’ve read VDH before on current affairs, and I expected a lucid and strong analysis of what’s gone wrong. I wasn’t disappointed. I particularly liked the author’s examples a from his own background in California and his life on a farm. It added concrete detail and colour to what could have been a depressing litany.

The reader will be left wondering what’s to be done. I’d like to have seen more about this, such as homeschooling, credible political activism at the local level, etc.

2 people found this helpful

Samuel Falle

Scary, but thought provoking

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 9, 2022

Verified Purchase

Lots of good stuff about the erosion of US civic society. There is a clear right wing bias, but his arguments are compelling and well supported by evidence. His critique of globalisation is masterly.

2 people found this helpful

Graham clarke-smith

The media

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 7, 2021

Verified Purchase

Well written and insightful

2 people found this helpful

Beau D.

Brilliant insight

Reviewed in Canada on February 5, 2022

Verified Purchase

It is a must read , very enlightening information from someone that has been right about everything thus far . He will go down as one of the great minds in history.
I only wish my copy was autographed.

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