The Golden Age - Number 7 in series (Paperback, New Ed)

The seventh and final novel in Vidal's Chronicles is both a survey of recent political history and a re-invention of it. The Golden Age covers the same ground as Washington DC - 1939 to 1954 - but from a different perspective. Familiar characters are presented in unfamiliar lights. Those who followed the Byzantine chicanery of the earlier book will be disorientated - newcomers will be completely unfazed by the introduction of new siblings to the Sanford clan. We find Caroline Sanford back from Paris and resuming her role as silent co-publisher (along with Blaise) of the Washington newspaper she founded in Empire. She's an intimate friend of the American president and his wife and the fulcrum of this novel is the author's wish to show how Roosevelt's lust for war led him to ignore clear warnings of the impending attack on Pearl Harbor so the attack would enrage Americans into joining the fight in Europe. Vidal is convinced that all American wars have been started by politicians and power brokers, who yearned for the expansion of American empire. Every Washington big shot - along with a good few literary lions and Hollywood heroes - parade these pages, not least the author himself, portrayed at his Italian villa taping political discussion for American television. Vidal reminds his interviewer that he is merely a creation of the omniscient author. Very Vidal. (Kirkus UK)

The seventh volume of what Vidal has entitled the "Narratives of Empire". In "The Golden Age", which offers a fictionalized version of American politics from 1940 to 2000, his main charge is that one of the most revered of all 20th-century presidents, Franklin D. Roosevelt, provoked, and then failed to warn his commanders about, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. His deception was brought about by a poll which revealed that 60 per cent of Americans were opposed to any foreign war. The author uses a series of episodes to show how the US, through its leaders and not through events, became the most influential country in the world, as he reveals (imaginary) conversations in the White House, in newspaper offices and around Washington DC.

General

Imprint:	Abacus
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Series:	Narratives of empire
Release date:	December 2001
Authors:	Gore Vidal
Dimensions:	130 x 201 x 32mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback - B-format
Pages:	480
Edition:	New Ed
ISBN-13:	978-0-349-11427-9
Categories:	Books > Fiction > General & literary fiction > Modern fiction
LSN:	0-349-11427-7
Barcode:	9780349114279

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