Product Description

Discusses political correctness and the freedom of debate.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5592 in Books
• Published on: 2006-04-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 121 pages

Melanie Phillips' Blog, January 2006
Anthony Browne, the Europe correspondent for the Times, has written a tremendously important pamphlet about political correctness

Peter Whittle, Sunday Times, 22nd January 2006
Anthony Browne’s recent excellent pamphlet on political correctness, The Retreat of Reason.

Rod Liddle, Spectator, 21/01/06
Browne’s pamphlet is a polemic against the manner in which intelligent, honest debate is suffocated by political correctness.

Customer Reviews

More of the same please
I am a former member of the PC Brigade and I found this book an excellent introduction to countering PC arguments.

I am not against all aspects of PC but it has now become a bloated, arrogant,dishonest and ironically very intolerant creed. I realised that I no longer wanted to be PC when I saw so called liberals marching around London with placades saying " We are all Hezbollah now ". I suppose a placade stating " we are all medieval, homophobic, anti-semitic, misogynst, intolerant religious fascists now " would have been unwieldy.

Once a realised I no longer believed in PC I wanted to learn how to counter PC arguments and this book fits the bill as a primer.However Browne offers counter arguments to many of the dogmas of PC without stooping to the name calling the PC crowd now unfortunately uses in place of honest debate.I am still in favour of equality for women, gays and ethnic minorities and so is the author. It is the bullying dogma, dishonest and sometimes downright stupidity of many PC arguments that has driven me away from it. After reading Brownes book I know I am not alone.

Polemic? I think not.
Whilst an interesting read, there is little in terms of content that I found to be particularly controversial. Perhaps, as Browne suggests in his final few pages, this is indicative of the demise of the PC ideology; I certainly hope so. This is very much an essay rather than a work of any great intellectual rigour but one that I would suggest is worthy of the investment of a few hours of one's time.

Excellent, essential reading
A brilliant book that should be read by anyone with an interest in the issues it addresses, The Retreat Of Reason is written in a very accessible manner and can be digested quickly. The author makes his points succinctly and intelligently. He is a beacon of wisdom in this land taken over by madness, as sponsored by an appalling government.

There should be a copy of this in every library in Britain and in every MP's office in Britain. But of course that won't happen. Why? Political correctness!