The LEP settlement would have beenrnimposed by the victorious Allies on therndefeated Central Powers. This Wilsonrnwanted to avoid, favoring instead arn”peace without victory” negotiated betweenrnequals of their own free accord.rnThe aims of the Allies were no betterrnthan those of the Central Powers, Wilsonrnthought; neither war nor peace should bernbased on national advantage. Wilsonrnhad long hoped for a stalemate that herncould mediate as a neutral. When Uboatrnattacks on American ships and Germanrnplots in Mexico turned Americanrnopinion in favor of war, Wilson was atrnpains to explain that the United Statesrnwas not fighting for its own honor or security,rnhi his famous “world safe for democracy”rnspeech to Congress on April 2,rn1917, asking for a declaration of war, hernsaid, “We have no selfish ends to serve.rnWe desire no conquest, no dominion.rnWe seek no indemnities for ourselves,rnno material compensation for the sacrificesrnwe shall freely make.” The sacrificesrnincluded over 112,000 Americanrndead, and more than twice as manyrnwounded. A modest price compared tornwhat the other combatants had to pay,rnbut a stiff one for nothing in return.rnThe legacy of this attitude continuesrntoday, as the same politicians, academics,rnand journalists who opposed anyrnuse of force to defend American and Alliedrnsecurity during the Cold War—letrnalone to punish attacks on Americanrnproperty overseas or defend critical resourcesrnlike oil—arc now clamoring forrnarmed intervention in Bosnia. The vervrnfact that Bosnia (and places like Somalia)rnarc of no strategic value to the UnitedrnStates is what makes them so attractivernto liberals, if not to those who havernto risk their lives or pay the bills. TeddyrnRoosevelt accused Wilson of being “arnFor hnmediate ServicernCHRONICLESrnNl-W’ST.iBSCRIBERSrnrOLM’RKE NUMBERrn1-800-877-5459rnman who is too proud to fight” for hisrnown country, a charge that could alsornbe leveled at a certain former antiwarrnactivist and draft-dodger should hernchoose to place more American troops atrnthe disposal of the United Nations or tornengage in other Wilsonian adventures.rnWilliam R. Hawkins is director of thernEconomic Security Action Center of thernU.S. Business and Industrial Council.rnSo Late the Dayrnby Clyde WilsonrnWhistling in the Dark: True Storiesrnand Other Fablesrnby George CarrettrnNew York: Harcourt Brace ]ovanovich;rn225 pp., $19.95rnPoetry, short story, novel, drama,rnscreenplay, criticism, the teachingrnof writing: George Garrett has excelledrnacross the entire spectrum of literary art.rnI can call to mind no other contemporaryrnAmerican writer who approaches thisrnfeat, though perhaps Garrett’s friendrnFred Chappell comes closest. But, whatrnis even rarer for a first-rank artist, Garrettrnalso excels in the essay, in the explicitrnand direct examination of the world.rnAs the American novel became morernand more solipsist in style and trivial inrnsubject matter, Garrett went in the oppositerndirection. If he had stopped writingrnat 40 (more than 20 years ago) hernwould already have had an enduringrnspace in the poetry and fiction anthologies.rnBut rather than coast along comfortablyrnrepeating himself, Garrett leaptrnnew and higher barriers, producing thernstunning and unexpected achievementrnof his Flizabethan novels: Death of thernFox (1971), The Succession: A Novel ofrnElizabeth and fames (1983), and EnteredrnFrom the Sun (1990).rnIn so doing Garrett brought to life arncritically formative period of the worldrnwe live in, and did so in a way that wasrnaudacious in technique, intensely modernrnin consciousness, and profoundly traditionalrnin values. lie demonstrated alsornthat it was still possible for anrnAmerican writer (or at any rate an AmericanrnSouthern writer) to make creativerncontact with the pristine and vigorousrnEnglish language, the authentic religion,rnand the terrible contingency and ambiguityrnof human life that marked Shakespeare’srnEngland. And since out ofrnShakespeare’s England was founded Virginia,rnthe Restoration was a part ofrnAmerican history as well.rnMore recently Garrett the essayist hasrntaken for his field contemporary Americanrnlife and letters. So along with tworncollections of literary comment—MyrnSilk Purse and Yours and The Sorrows ofrnFat City—he has provided us with a sortrnof memoir. Whistling in the Dark, whichrnallows us to begin to understand somethingrnof where his great books camernfrom. Of course, art of this staturerncomes from God—the original and rootrnmeaning of inspiration—but we stillrnneed to understand the human and historicalrnmeans by which the divine planrnwas worked out in the writer George Garrett.rnThis is not a book about literaturernper se and certainly not a sordid and selfservingrnaccount of cash advances gained,rnprizes won, celebrities met. When Garrettrnwrites about literature he does one ofrnthree things: tells a good story; gives generousrnpraise where it is deserved, especiallyrnto the under-rewarded (and nornwriter is more generous to his contemporaries);rnor gets in a couple of quickrndevastating punches to the solar plexusrnof overrated Northeastern literary celebrities.rnWhistling in the Dark is a collection ofrnthe meditated experiences that madernthe writer. For instance, we learn howrnthe “selfish intensity” of his youthfulrnconditioning as boxer and footballerrnhelped to shape a literary career andrnpoint of view. And we see Garrett thernyoung soldier in the heart of Europe inrnthe intense early days of the Cold War,rnstanding in a weeping crowd of Austriansrnto greet a trainload of broken POWs returningrnfrom Russian captivity years afterrnthe war is over. “I stand there knowingrnone thing for certain—that I am seeingrnour century, our time, close and truly.”rnThe recollections flow from a Southernrnsense of family as the essential unit ofrnsociety. So that Garrett’s Confederaterngreat-grandfather is an integral part ofrnhis experience, along with all the generationsrnin between and now—a proliferatingrnconnection centered in old hardscrabblernprewar Florida. In Southernrnlife there are no alienated individuals;rnthere are families living, for better orrn40/CHRONICLESrnrnrn