War of Words: Language, Politics and 9/11

by Sandra Silberstein, S. Silberstein

In a media age, wars are waged not only with bombs and planes but also with video and sound bites. War of Words is an incisive report from the linguistic battlefields, probing the tales told about September 11th to show how Americans created consensus in the face of terror. Capturing the campaigns for America's hearts, minds, wallets and votes, Silberstein traces the key cultural conflicts that surfaced after the attacks and Now featuring a new chapter on the Second Anniversary and Beyond, the war in Iraq, the backlash against former 'heroes' and accusations of presidential mendacity.
A perceptive and disturbing account, War of Words reveals the role of the media in manufacturing events and illuminates the shifting sands of American collective identity in the post September 11th world.

216 pages, Hardcover

First published August 16, 2002

Reviews

[Jennifer J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The analysis here is very good and really engaging, but the writing is not spectacular. Good fast read. Very interesting. Recommended for analysis, policy wonks, anthropologists, people who read too many blogs or too much ethnography.

[Carie King · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is geared toward a more general audience so is lacking conclusion. She presents the rhetorical choices of the media but leaves the reader to draw their own conclusions.