And Niall Ferguson’s peers call his book “tendentious”

Niall Ferguson’s essay/book excerpt in Newsweek – and more than likely his whole book – was very much op-ed, very much not pure reporting. It was also intended to invigorate Western readers. But he has offended pretty much everyone who’s read the book and has been subjected to its apparently supremist undertones. It’s a commercially-led, provocative, publicity-optimised title; Civilisation: The West and the Rest.

“Character assasination” is how Ferguson described to Canada’s The Globe and Mail the review of Civilisation: The West and the Rest in the London Review of Books by Pankaj Mishra. The spat was since echoed in the New York Times, Guardian, Evening Standard and The New American to throw a few quick links at you.

Here’s what he said to The Globe and Mail after being called a neo-imperialist by Mishra:

That wasn’t a review. It’s extremely selective, quite deliberately misrepresents my work, and strongly implies that I’m a racist, which I resent. I’m extremely angry about that piece. It was malicious and defamatory and I don’t intend to take it sitting idly. I will respond with great force to that attempt at character assassination.

Looking forward to that response that will come with “great force”.

I still like that paragraph that I blogged below!

Advertisement