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Hitchens vs Blair [Paperback]

Christopher Hitchens
3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
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Book Description

4 Aug 2011

On November 26, 2010, intellectual juggernaut and staunch atheist Christopher Hitchens went head-to-head with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, one of the Western worlds most openly devout political leaders, on the highly charged topic of religion. Few world leaders have had a greater hand in shaping current events than Blair; few writers have been more outspoken and polarizing than Hitchens.

Hitchens and Blair squared off on the contentious questions that continue to dog the topic of religion in our globalized world: How does faith influence our actions? What is the role of people of faith in the public sphere? Is religious doctrine rigid, or should we allow for flexibility in our interpretations?

For the first time ever, this exclusive debate, which played out to a sold-out audience, is now available in print, along with candid interviews with Hitchens and Blair. Sharp, provocative, and thoroughly engrossing, Hitchens vs. Blair is an electrifying intellectual sparring match on the oldest question: Is religion a force for good in the world?


Frequently Bought Together

Hitchens vs Blair + Arguably + Hitch 22: A Memoir
Price For All Three: £31.38

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Product details

  • Paperback: 96 pages
  • Publisher: Black Swan (4 Aug 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0552777900
  • ISBN-13: 978-0552777902
  • Product Dimensions: 12.7 x 0.7 x 19.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 225,309 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Product Description

Review

An intellectual faceoff... full of sharp humour and a little pathos (Guardian )

Book Description

Is religion a force for good in the World?

Inside This Book (Learn More)
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars
3.0 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
43 of 46 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Two 'Socialist' Titans battle it out 5 Aug 2011
By Magic Lemur TOP 1000 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
Although I'm not a socialist myself, I do find that the best type of old politician you can meet is an old socialist. Somehow age seems to mellow any militancy of their youth (especially in the case of Hitchens) and what remains has usually aged like fine wine.

And I found one of the enduring memories I had after I read this book is of the Comradely warmth expressed by Christopher Hitchens towards Blair towards the end of the debate (pages 49-52) and the reciprocation of this. How refreshing this is when compared to Hitchens' bitter debate with Galloway or Blair's fractious relations with Gordon Brown!

This aside I found this a fascinating debate and can honestly say that I rarely enjoyed a polemical text more. Certainly as a debate it outclasses anything Hansard or C-SPAN has to offer shows two highly skilled orators skillfully marshall their arguments.

Of course there is always going to be a winner and, although I shan't plot-spoil, Hitchens is the better man in this field but only just. Tony Blair may not be as used to debating religion, but he still makes good use of language in conveying his argument (e.g. in saying "my point is very simple...").
Rather surprisingly Blair does also have some convincing arguments in favour of religion being a force for good. For instance he compares it to politics and journalism and how there is always bad eggs in all fields and even Nicky Gumbel's work Searching Issues (Alpha) is not quite as crisp as Blair's arguments.

Sadly the old Hitler/ Stalin/ Mao arguments do rear their ugly heads, but only briefly and there is no long boring diversions into other fields.

Overall, I was highly impressed and thought it was well worth pre-ordering and waiting the 2 weeks for it to come to the UK. If you've read Hitchens and are at all worried that he is losing it then don't worry - he still knows his beans.
And if you haven't read Blair's Memoirs or are worried that he'll just bang on about Iraq then don't worry - it doesn't and it this debate provides a good taster of what the memoirs are like.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars I feel let down! 25 July 2012
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I thought this would be really good. For some reason Hitch seemed to be very gentle with phoney Tony. It never really got going for me. Hitch (where ever you are) I wish you had gone for his throat!!!!
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0 of 17 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars George Galloway owned Hitchens 4 Oct 2012
By Zero
Format:Kindle Edition
This is a poor debate between two warmongers and lazy thinkers. Hitchens vs Galloway was better, and it was far more entertaining to see Galloway thrash the Islamophobic bigot than watching Blair trying to do the same thing.
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