Review: A Satirical How-To Guide for Imperialists

Freedom "requires you to curtail freedom of speech and freedom of the press," the book declares.

"They say that if you love something, you should set it free," the manual explains. "This is how you must think about individual liberty."

That's just one of many nuggets of sardonic wisdom offered in How to Run Wars: A Confidential Playbook for the National Security Elite. An instruction guide written in the same satiric tradition as The Screwtape Letters and Report From Iron Mountain, this book by the libertarian economists Christopher Coyne and Abigail Hall draws on real examples across U.S. history to teach today's imperialists how to manipulate the media, suppress dissent, commandeer the economy, and rationalize every crime along the way.

The book concedes that some of its advice "may seem distasteful or counter to the ideals of a free society." But it urges readers to remember "the bigger picture. You are working to maintain and spread liberty and freedom at home and abroad. This requires you to curtail freedom of speech and freedom of the press in order to protect these freedoms, for otherwise they will be lost."