A short life of the author
Christopher Eric Hitchens (1949–2011) was born on 13 April 1949 in Portsmouth, England, the elder son of Eric Ernest Hitchens, a Royal Navy commander, and Yvonne Jean Hickman. His mother, whom he adored and who killed herself in a suicide pact with a lover in Athens in 1973, was, he discovered late in life, Jewish — a revelation that profoundly affected his sense of identity. He was educated at the Leys School, Cambridge (the school on which James Hilton modelled Goodbye, Mr. Chips), and at Balliol College, Oxford, where he read Philosophy, Politics, and Economics and became involved in radical left-wing politics.
Life and Career
Hitchens began his career as a journalist at the New Statesman in London in the 1970s, covering Northern Ireland, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, and the Middle East with a combination of political engagement and literary flair. He moved to Washington, D.C., in 1981, writing a column for The Nation and contributing to Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, Slate, and numerous other publications. He became an American citizen in 2007.
His early reputation was as a man of the left — anti-imperialist, anti-Thatcher, a defender of Palestinian rights, a friend of Edward Said. The Salman Rushdie fatwa in 1989 marked a turning point: Hitchens became one of the most vocal defenders of free speech against religious threats, a position that would lead, over the next two decades, to his break with the left over Islamism, his support for the Iraq War, and his emergence as one of the “Four Horsemen” of the New Atheism alongside Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Daniel Dennett.
The Trial of Henry Kissinger (2001) made the case for prosecuting Kissinger as a war criminal. God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything (2007) was a bestselling polemic against organised religion that combined historical argument, personal testimony, and rhetorical bravura. Hitch-22: A Memoir (2010) was his autobiography — witty, digressive, name-dropping, and genuinely moving on the subjects of his mother, his friendships, and his intellectual evolution.
In June 2010, Hitchens was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer. He wrote about his illness with unflinching honesty in a series of Vanity Fair columns collected as Mortality (2012). He died on 15 December 2011 in Houston, Texas. His final words to a visitor were reportedly: “Capitalism. Downfall.”
Major Works and Themes
Hitchens was above all a prose stylist. His sentences are models of clarity and force, combining Anglo-Saxon directness with Latinate precision. He wrote about literature (Orwell, Jefferson, Paine, Proust) with the authority of a scholar and about politics with the passion of a combatant.
Why Orwell Matters (2002) is his best piece of literary criticism — an argument that Orwell’s example remains essential for anyone who wants to think clearly about politics and language. Arguably (2011), a massive collection of essays and reviews, is the best single-volume demonstration of his range.
His central intellectual commitment was to the Enlightenment — to reason, evidence, free inquiry, and the separation of church and state. His central emotional commitment was to friendship, literature, and the pleasures of argument.
Critical Reception and Legacy
Hitchens was admired even by those who disagreed with him, which is a rare achievement in political commentary. His support for the Iraq War cost him friendships and credibility on the left, and the question of whether his hawkishness was a principled extension of his anti-totalitarianism or a betrayal of it remains contested.
As a writer, his reputation is secure. The essay collections — particularly Arguably — will last. His debating performances, widely available online, have made him a posthumous cultural figure, particularly among younger audiences who discovered him through YouTube.
Key Works
- Blood, Class and Nostalgia: Anglo-American Ironies (1990)
- The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice (1995)
- No One Left to Lie To: The Triangulations of William Jefferson Clinton (1999)
- The Trial of Henry Kissinger (2001)
- Letters to a Young Contrarian (2001)
- Why Orwell Matters (2002)
- Thomas Jefferson: Author of America (2005)
- God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything (2007)
- Hitch-22: A Memoir (2010)
- Arguably: Essays (2011)
- Mortality (2012, posthumous)
Collecting Hitchens
Christopher Hitchens published prolifically, and his bibliography is large — over twenty books plus hundreds of uncollected essays and reviews.
God Is Not Great (2007, Twelve/Hachette, New York) is the most commercially significant title and the most collected. First editions in jacket bring $100–$300; signed copies $200–$600. Hitchens did extensive promotional tours and was a generous signer.
The Trial of Henry Kissinger (2001, Verso, London/New York) is sought by collectors of political literature at $100–$300 for first editions.
Hitch-22 (2010, Twelve/Hachette) is widely available but signed copies — particularly those signed during his illness — are premium items.
The earlier titles — Blood, Class and Nostalgia (1990, Farrar, Straus & Giroux), The Missionary Position (1995, Verso), No One Left to Lie To (1999, Verso) — had smaller print runs and are genuinely scarce in fine first-edition condition.
Hitchens was an enthusiastic signer and inscriber, and signed copies of most titles are available. His inscriptions are often witty and personal. Correspondence and manuscripts are held by various institutions; the New York Public Library has significant holdings.