false 711957 3 The rise and fall of ancient Rome has been on American minds from the beginning of our Republic. Today, we focus less on the Roman Republic than on the Empire that took its place. Depending on who’s doing the talking, the history of Rome serves either as a triumphal call to action, or a dire warming of imminent collapse. Esteemed editor and author Cullen Murphy ventures past the pundits’ rhetoric to draw nuanced lessons about how we might avoid Rome’s demise. Murphy reveals a wide array of similarities between the two empires: the blinding, insular culture of our capitals; the debilitating effect of corruption; the paradoxical issue of borders; and the weakening of the body politic through various forms of “privatization.” Most pressingly, he argues that we most resemble Rome in the burgeoning corruption of our government and in our arrogant ignorance of the world outside—two things that are in our power to change. 698219 10 5 2007 Are We Rome?: The Fall of an Empire and the Fate of America total:196|5:25|4:85|3:62|2:20|1:4| 196 695 390 66 4 2 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Jun 18 07:44:52 -0700 2007 Mon Jul 16 08:38:35 -0700 2007
Murphy begins the book by stating outright that, obviously, America is not an exact replica of Roma. OF COURSE there are things that are different, and he immediately points out the key differences....more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue Jan 27 09:27:02 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 27 09:27:02 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Oct 14 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 14 22:24:04 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 14 22:42:39 -0700 2009 A: No, except when we are like Rome.

Interesting little (~200 pages) book comparing America to Rome with the overarching theme of whether or not America is going to decline and fall just like Rome did. The book starts with a nice walk through of the various specious c...more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Aug 20 12:43:16 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 20 12:59:47 -0700 2009 Are We Rome by Cullen Murphy because its title asked the very question I had been pondering for years: How much in common does America have with Ancient Rome? Will we "fall" in the same way it did?

The book goes into some detail about the similarities and differen...more...]]> 4 1 true false Wed Jun 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 24 17:33:21 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 24 17:55:18 -0700 2009
But more importantly the author brings his long, deep historical, analytical perspective as a writer and scholar to examine how bloated and out of control America has become ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jun 05 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Mar 04 11:39:46 -0800 2009 Wed Mar 04 11:40:06 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 01 12:55:21 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 18 14:52:27 -0700 2009
Cullen Murphy, the former managing editor of Atlantic Monthly and now the editor-at-...more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Sep 14 22:41:53 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 14 22:43:37 -0700 2008 1 0 false false Tue Feb 24 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 23 19:50:44 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 23 20:07:52 -0800 2009
I think the review from Noel Malcolm in the UK's Telegraph sums up my general feelings about this book. While being moderately well read, and writing moderately well, Cullen Murphy doesn...more...]]> 2 0 false false Wed Jul 16 19:12:05 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 16 19:21:51 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Feb 16 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 11 12:56:51 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 16 12:00:34 -0800 2009 Along the way, he namedrops with shameless abandon, both ancient and modern personalities. On the days you are convinced that we're ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Jun 16 07:09:20 -0700 2007 Tue Jun 19 05:43:10 -0700 2007
It is primarily informative and thankfully does not drip with the doom and gloom scenarios ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 04 07:13:25 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 17 13:52:15 -0800 2008
However, he does have some basic factual errors (i.e. refers to two air force ones, when any air force craft in the air with the president is in fact Air Force One, he was referring t...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Dec 12 10:43:19 -0800 2007 Wed Dec 12 10:54:49 -0800 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Dec 25 14:19:13 -0800 2007 Sun Nov 18 14:09:45 -0800 2007 Sun Nov 18 14:18:45 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Mar 11 22:56:55 -0700 2008 Sat Mar 29 14:50:07 -0700 2008
Cullen Murphy...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Jan 16 12:36:01 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 16 12:38:14 -0800 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Wed Oct 17 13:41:16 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 17 13:59:40 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jan 19 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 02 16:44:27 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 19 09:41:14 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 03 11:00:27 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 03 11:20:26 -0800 2009