A great debate shaping up here: VDH and Pat Buchannan

Victor Davis Hanson reviews – unfavorably, Pat Buchannan’s book Churchill, Hitler and ‘The Unnecessary War’: How Britain Lost Its Empire and the West Lost the World here: http://www.victorhanson.com/articles/hanson060908.html

Buchanan responds here: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PatrickJBuchanan/2008/06/13/the_good_war_and_the_terrible_peace?page=2

I haven’t read Buchannan’s book, however you can find his summary of the thesis here: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PatrickJBuchanan/2008/05/27/how_the_west_lost_the_world

My take on the argument is, Buchanan has some interesting notions – but he’s doing allohistory, Hanson is doing history.

Allohistory is the history of the “parallel universe” where X happened instead of Y.

Allohistory is a useful exercise sometimes and a lot of fun, but you cannot prove anything with it. Or rather, you can prove anything you like with it.