内容简介：
This extended essay argues that the attacks on the World Trade Center have exposed the Western world not just to terror, but also to an underlying cultural emptiness that is crippling its ability to respond adequately. Ranging from the ancient Greek gods to recent American films, and visiting Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness on the way, Carroll argues that the West is in disarray. What is now faced is not just the threat of further attacks, he contends, but a world where values have been leached away by a secular culture based on excess.