The Greatest Polemicist Of Our Age

The above headline contains words used some years ago by George Galloway to describe Christopher Hitchens. That was before Hitchens assumed (post 9/11) the role of the world's leading literary opponent of what he refers to as Islamofascism. Since then, Galloway and Hitchens, both at one time 'old left' socialists, have drifted well apart, to the point that on his celebrated visit to the US Senate, Galloway met Hitchens outside and described him then as "a drink-sodden, ex-Trotskyist popinjay". Not to be outdone, Hitchens described Galloway as 'a prolier-than-thou wideboy' and described his supporters as "a hysterical fan-club of fundamentalists and political thugs". I am a supporter of both Galloway and Hitchens, AND I think the abuse they hurl at each other is vastly entertaining AND probably justified on both sides. Hitchens IS the greatest drink-sodden polemicist of our age. Galloway IS a thuggish wideboy. Whether you agree with Hitchens' views or not, he is a tremendously entertaining and penetrative writer. A down-to-earth intellectual who can mix it equally well with the highbrows and lowbrows. This collection of critical essays wrestles with the many serious issues thrown up by 9/11, examines the literary legacy of such as Graham Greene, Aldous Huxley, James Joyce and Evelyn Waugh, tackles, very critically, inter alia, Mother Theresa, David Irving, and Michael Moore and finds time for an assesment of 'Bob Dylan's achievement'. And much much more, including drawing attention to the fact that Winston Churchill did not personally make many of the really famous radio speeches attributed to him ("blood, toil, tears and sweat": "We shall fight on the beaches": "Their finest hour") - "The three crucial broadcasts were made not by Churchill but by an actor hired to impersonate him. Norman Shelley, who played Winnie the Pooh for the BBC's Children's Hour, ventriloquised Churchill for history and fooled millions of listeners. Perhaps Churchill was too much incapacitated by drink to deliver the speeches himself". I am so impressed with Hitchens that I have included a link on the left side of this page to his web-site, where you will find lots of his journalism and ongoing links to an unimaginably vast and diverse world of political, literary and intellectual argument and debate.