Appeasement defined the global conflicts of the 20th century. Time after time, America and other forces for freedom and democracy withheld their power in efforts to appease the most evil regimes in recent history. Over and over again, the policy of appeasement has ended in disaster. Now, conservative giant Victor Davis Hanson asks: why is appeasement so seductive and where will it take us in the 21st century? In this collection of Hanson’s best columns from the last four years on the policy of appeasement today and in history, the path becomes clear. If America continues down the road of appeasement with radical Islamic groups and aggressive regimes in Russia and North Korea, the world will see a conflagration rivalling World War II. The 20th-century world—after horrific losses—made it through its last appeasement disaster; but will we be able to recover to face and ward off the present gathering storm? "Victor David Hanson is perhaps the most prescient essayist of his generation. His columns have always been must-reads for anyone interested in Western civlilization, strategy, and America's place in the world. How wonderful it is to now have such crucial reading all together and at our fingertips." - Michael Rubin Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute "Hanson has something useful to say on every major blunder from the muddled way America left Iraq to the misguided effort to engage Iran. And, he says it in a way that is well worth the read. " — James Jay Carafano, Ph.D. Vice President for the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy, and the E. W. Richardson Fellow at The Heritage Foundation "Victor Davis Hanson writes with the encyclopedic knowledge of a seasoned historian, the perceptive sagacity of a policy analyst, and the fierce conviction of a committed patriot. In this latest collection he draws on the insights of the past to caution against the follies of the present, and point towards a more hopeful future. The seductions of appeasement are a perennial peril in statecraft, and Hanson shows how they can be resisted, and why they must." - William Inboden Executive Director, Clements Center for History, Strategy & Statecraft; Distinguished Scholar, Strauss Center; and Associate Professor, LBJ School

The Decline and Fall of California: From Decadence to Destruction collects Victor Davis Hanson’s best writing on California’s crisis of culture. Focusing on three themes with enduring relevance—water, immigration, and the rural way of life—Hanson deftly dissects the ruins of the Golden State. California’s crisis is America’s crisis: the same policies and mental dissonance that have eroded California’s prosperity threaten the rest of the country if left unchecked. In California, an out-of-touch liberal leadership has made life worse for average citizens of the state, both the poor and the shrinking middle class. For all the exalted talk about the people, the environment, and the proverbial “little guy,” few in government craft policies to help the majority of the state. In particular, on matters of illegal immigration, water policy, and culture, cocooned elites rarely face the logical consequences of their own ideology. The Decline and Fall of California unwinds the story of how California came to this moment, and offers insight into why the rest of the nation should be wary of the same influences in Washington, DC. "I moved to California to chase The Dream nearly four decades ago, experience the promise... and now the perils. No one but Victor Davis Hanson has the depth and savvy to clearly chronicle how the Golden State got to this point, and where we are now headed. There are lessons and warnings for the rest of America here, too. It's been said, 'As California goes, so goes the Nation.' This is essential reading." - Mark Larson KUSI TV Contributor & AM 1170 Talkshow Host The Decline and Fall of California is the second Victor Davis Hanson collection from PJ Media, following his collection on the war on terror, Seductions of Appeasement, also available on Amazon.