||1:Like Mr Holmes's balloonists, Mr Edgerton sees Britain from an unusual perspective.||2:He digs into research and development spending and the activities of long-gone government ministries in an effort to challenge versions of history that have become fixated on Britain's decline.||3:In the 22 years since his book's first edition Mr Edgerton says such “declinism ” has waned—something he ascribes particularly to New Labour and the birth of a cooler Britannia.||4:He himself can also take some credit; his arguments provide sound backing for the idea that modern Britain is as much a warfare state as a welfare one.

||1:和霍尔莫斯先生的热气球飞行者的故事一样，艾哲顿先生也从一个不同角度来窥见英国。||2:他深入挖掘已经没落的政府部门的研发开支和各种活动，以此向英国衰落历史的既定版本质疑。||3:自从这本书的首版面市以来的22年里，艾哲顿先生表示，持这种“衰落论”观点的人已经越来越少——他把一些原因特别归于新工党的出现和一个更冷静的大不列颠的诞生。||4:他自己的努力也可以算作一份功劳；他的论点声援了一个观点，那就是现代英国战火虽尤平，但鲜有硝烟，人民过上了还算幸福的生活。

||1: In his conclusion Mr Laqueur concedes that “the prophets of declinism have been frequently wrong.” ||2: Nothing daunted, he goes on cheerily to assert that the EU may break up. ||3: Yet though his predictions may be dubious, his analysis is worth reading and pondering, especially by those who before the euro crisis were fond of declaring that Europe was showing the world a way to a better future.

||1:在他的书的结尾拉克尔先生承认“预言衰退的预言家经常都被证明是错的”。||2:但他毫无畏惧，他还是继续笃定的宣称欧盟或许会解体。||3:尽管他的预言或许是值得怀疑的，但他的分析值得研读和深思，特别是对于那些在欧洲危机之前热衷于宣称欧洲向世界展示了一条通向更美好未来的道路的人。

Yet it was in just this period of improvement that an investigation of "British declinism " became a major industry among other academics.

不过，正是在这段经济改善时期，对“英国衰落主义（Britishdeclinism）”的研究，成为了众多其他学者的主要课题。

But there are still reasons for thinking that the new declinism may be more soundly based than its predecessors.

但我们仍有理由认为，新的衰落主义可能建立在比之前版本更为健全的基础上。

But it is part of a broader intellectual trend in America: a "new declinism " .

但这是美国更为广泛的学术趋势的一部分：“新衰落主义”（newdeclinism）。

Even so, he has been excoriated by his opponents for "declinism " .

即便如此，对手们还严厉批评他有“衰落主义”心态。

Such cycles of "declinism " tell us more about American psychology than real shifts in power.

如此反复的“衰退主义”让我们更加看清美国心理，多于政权更迭。

And look across the channel: in the 1970s Britain was suffering from declinism too.

再来看一下海峡对岸：1970年代，衰退主义在英国同样是甚嚣尘上。