Book Interview: The End of Everything with Dr. Victor Davis Hanson

With his unique ability to connect military history to current events, in his new book, The End of Everything, best-selling author and the Giles-O'Malley Distinguished Visiting Professor at the School of Public Policy, Dr. Victor Davis Hanson raises a disturbing question: what happens when military defeat not only results in a loss of power, but in the utter destruction of a civilization?

Join us for this live, online, conversation with one of America's leading thinkers as we explore four historical examples drawn from ancient Greece, 15th century Europe, and 16th century Central America to better understand how loss on the battlefield expanded into the annihilation of a culture where distinct languages and customs are known to us today only in history books. Are there common factors between these seemingly disparate catastrophes? Are there lessons for today that Hanson would like readers to consider as we look back at battles fought over two millennia ago?

Pete Peterson, dean of the School of Public Policy will be interviewing Hanson and will leave time for questions at the end of this hourlong webinar.

Speaker: Victor Davis Hanson

Victor Davis Hanson was named our inaugural Giles-O'Malley Distinguished Visiting Professor in December 2022, and currently teaches at the School of Public Policy.

Hanson served as the William E. Simon Distinguished Visiting Professor for the School of Public Policy in 2009, 2011, and 2014. He is currently the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow in Residence in Classics and Military History at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University; Professor Emeritus of Classics Emeritus at California State University, Fresno; and the Wayne and Marcia Buske Distinguished Fellow in History at Hillsdale College. He is also a nationally syndicated columnist for Tribune Media Services.

Among numerous awards, honors, and fellowships, Hanson was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2007 and the Bradley Prize in 2008.

Hanson is the author of hundreds of articles, book reviews, scholarly papers, and newspaper editorials on matters ranging from ancient Greek, agrarian, and military history to foreign affairs, domestic politics, and contemporary culture. He has written or edited 17 books and has written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, International Herald Tribune, and New York Post, among others.

Hanson received a BA from the University of California, Santa Cruz, in 1975, attended the American School of Classical Studies and received a PhD in classics from Stanford University in 1980.

Watch "Office Hours with Victor Davis Hanson," a four-part seminar series of special interviews that explore the class "Roots of American Leadership in Peace and War" taught by Dr. Hanson to Pepperdine School of Public Policy graduate students.

Interview Host: Pete Peterson 

Pete Peterson is a leading national speaker and writer on issues related to civic participation, and the use of technology to make government more responsive and transparent. He was the first executive director of the bi-partisan organization, Common Sense California, which in 2010 joined with the Davenport Institute at the School of Public Policy to become the Davenport Institute for Public Engagement and Civic Leadership.

Peterson has co-created and currently co-facilitates the training seminar, "Public Engagement: The Vital Leadership Skill in Difficult Times" a program that has been attended by over 4,500 municipal officials, and he also helped to develop the program, "Leading Smart Communities," which explores the ways in which technology is changing local government processes. Peterson has served as the chair of the Governance Committee for the Public Interest Technology-University Network.

Peterson writes widely on public engagement for a variety of major news outlets including the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and San Francisco Chronicle, as well as numerous blogs. He contributed the chapter, "Place As Pragmatic Policy" to the edited volume, Why Place Matters: Geography, Identity, and Civic Life in Modern America (New Atlantis Books, 2014), and the chapter "Do-It Ourselves Citizenship" in the volume, Localism in the Mass Age (Wipf & Stock, 2018).

Peterson serves on the boards of the Jack Miller Center and the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, as well as the National Advisory Council for the Ashbrook Center, and on the Scholars Council for Braver Angels. He represents the School of Public Policy in the Public Interest Technology-University Network (PIT-UN).  Peterson has served as a member of the Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship, organized by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the nonprofit, Sophos Africa. Peterson has served on the Leadership Council of the bipartisan reform organization, California Forward, and has been a public affairs fellow at The Hoover Institution.

Peterson was the Republican candidate for California Secretary of State in 2014.