Next Monday, 19th April, I will be interviewing the French writer Pascal Bruckner at a New Culture Forum event about his latest book The Tyranny of Guilt: An Essay on Western Masochism. This is an extremely important book which, in the words of Christopher Hitchens, 'confronts those whose morbid addiction to self-blame has begun to flirt with the suicidal.'  

Bruckner argues that guilt has now gone too far. It has become a pathology, and even an obstacle to fighting today's atrocities. One of France's leading writers and public intellectuals, he argues that obsessive guilt has obscured important realities. The West has no monopoly on evil, and has destroyed monsters as well as created them — leading in the abolition of slavery, renouncing colonialism, building peaceful and prosperous communities, and establishing rules and institutions that are models for the world. The West should be proud — and ready to defend itself and its values.  

The event will take place at 6.30pm at 55 Tufton Street, Westminster, London SW1P 3QL (nearest tube Westminster). If you'd like to come, then RSVP to prwhittle@btinternet.com