The Nation Shares Its Hitchens Favorites

Posted on Dec 17, 2011

Andrew Rusk (CC-BY)

Christopher Hitchens after beginning treatment for esophageal cancer.

Christopher Hitchens wrote for The Nation magazine between 1978 and 2006, aiming “sarcasm and invective” at “fools on both left and right.“ On the occasion of his death, the magazine collects some of his most memorable salvos. —ARK

The Nation:

“Cyprus, the Battered Pawn,” July 8-15, 1978. This is apparently Christopher’s first Nation piece. He had a personal interest in the Cyprus conflict and wrote a book on it. This precocious work reminds us of what a good journalist he was, bringing to bear an informed sense of history as well as facts gleaned by from on-the-ground reporting.

“Minority Report,” April 2, 1990. This column should refresh your memory on the Reagan/Bush administrations’ intervention in Nicaragua. Quoting some vapid Bush I staffer, “Hey! I guess the carrot did work better than the stick with those Sandinistas”—Christopher asks: “by what right does the United States presume to hold sticks and carrots over Nicaragua?”

“Minority Report,” December 12, 1994. Christopher still sorting through the question of Republicans past and Democrats present and did it make a difference. The attentive reader can spot the start of his evolution to a new personal politics.

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