Did Old Books Forecast New Era?
Editor, Times-Dispatch So Victor Davis Hansen, in his Op/Ed column, “Welcome to 1984,” sees implementation of George Orwell’s novel 25 years later than forecast. Hanson (whom I respect greatly) must have missed Sinclair Lewis’ book, It Can’t Happen Here, which was published in 1935. It accurately forecast Germany under Hitler’s rule from 1935 to 1945. Let’s hope that both novels fail to diagram correctly the development of American society during the coming decade. James R. Stanard. Richmond.
