[5] Rieff argues for a pragmatic weighing of the costs and benefits of remembering versus forgetting, rather than a morally absolutist position that memory is always desirable.

[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] South African historian Gary Baines described the book as "a major intervention in the debate about the relative merits of remembering and forgetting".

[6] In International Affairs Caleb Lauer writes that Rieff fails to address the objection that forgetting "cannot provide a society with some blank canvas on which to conjure a new, best image of itself".

She describes the book as "a thought-provoking and often controversial exploration of what is gained and lost by remembering; yet, it is a work of moral philosophy that raises more questions than it answers".

He credits the book with originality, "relentless interdisciplinarity and fast-moving pace", and for drawing "on works of history, philosophy, sociology, literary fiction and poetry, and political science".