In pursuit of knowledge of recent history, I have selected writings by two principal historians of the early 21st Century,
one being Gore Vidal. From his writings, I chose a small tome, "Dreaming War; Blood for Oil and the Cheney-Bush Junta. Unfortunately, I cannot say that this is an unbiased report of events leading up to the recent Gulf War, even though I sympathize entirely with the view that the war was orchestrated by outright lies to the American public and that a grab for executive power was made in the name of The New World Order (not a term mentioned by Vidal in his treatise). In fact, Gore Vidal seems to dwell on hindsight, rarely giving any insight to what he might have done had he been in the shoes of the politicians he denigrates so thoroughly, or any prophetic statements concerning the future.
Specifically in his meanderings, some of which were previously published in major periodicals including
The Nation, The Times Literary Supplement, Newsweek, Vanity Fair, et al, and in the commentary in explication of his views, he covers the same territory that he has visited in numerous other writings. They include the time period beginning with Franklin Delano Roosevelt's treachery against Japan in luring that country into battle in 1941 to the treachery of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney's promotion of the invasion of Afghanistan and declaration of war with Iraq. He covers
President Truman's actions and apparent reasons for using two bombs instead of one at the end of World War II, explaining that there was no excuse for using any bombs at all. He describes America's subsequent quest for empire. All opinions are scholarly documented, and entirely credible if viewed with the prejudice that all American politicians are created equally demonic in their bid for power.
There are two glimpses of Vidal's opinions that I find reprehensible. One is his contention that We the People are the victims of all these political agendas because (a) we are kept in the dark (ignorance) by an unscrupulous media, who knowingly unite with big business (corporations) to promote their ends, and (b) the attention span of Americans is in the ball park of "ten minutes." At the end of that juncture, we forget any of the cogent issues at hand and turn our attention to more entertaining fare, namely television. Obviously, he and, I hope, I are exceptions. Might I say that we are exceptions along with the readers of all those periodicals and books, those viewers of historical documentaries, and those writers, whom he quotes, ad nauseam, to prove his points, along with a few others, whom I shall not categorize.
So, yes, if you are looking for a short work of a long history from 1940 to the present from which to draw defamatory information regarding U. S. politics, and USA lettered enforcement agencies, such as the NSA, the CIA, and the DOD, this is a very good source. You may use it to further conspiracy theories, or just plain anti-American sentiment. Or you can use it as a source to raise 1,000 questions about conflict from World War II to the
war on terror. If you are well read or if you were there, as I was, you will realize that even though Gore Vidal has a handle on the truth, his is only a partial truth. It is rather like the experience of the little girl who said, "No, mama, really! Where do babies come from? I already know that storks don't bring them." To which, the mother replies, "Well, you see, it's all daddy's doing . . ." And she proceeds to lay out the truth about men, their infidelity, their methods, and their often not-intended consequences. All true, but it still takes two to tango.