The Neoconservative Persuasion: Selected Essays, 1942-2009

by Irving Kristol

Overview

Irving Kristol, the "godfather" of neoconservatism and one of our most important public intellectuals, played an extraordinarily influential role in the development of American intellectual and political culture over the past half century. These essays, many hard to find and reprinted here for the first time since their initial appearance, are a penetrating survey of the intellectual development of one of the progenitors of neoconservatism.

Kristol wrote over the years on a remarkably broad range of topics -- from W. H. Auden to Ronald Reagan, from the neoconservative movement's roots in the 1940s at City College to American foreign policy, from religion to capitalism. Kristol's writings provide us with a unique guide to the development of neoconservatism as one of the leading strains of thought -- one of the leading "persuasions" -- in recent American political and intellectual history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780465023332
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	01/11/2011
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	416
File size:	876 KB
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Irving Kristol was an editor and then the managing editor of Commentary magazine from 1947 to 1952; executive vice-president of the publishing house Basic Books from 1961 to 1969; Henry Luce Professor of Urban Values at New York University from 1969 to 1987; and co-founder and co-editor of the Public Interest from 1965 to 2002. He was the founder and publisher of the National Interest from 1985 to 2002.

Kristol was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a fellow emeritus at the American Enterprise Institute. As a member of the board of contributors of the Wall Street Journal, he contributed a monthly column from 1972 to 1997. He served on the Council of the National Endowment for the Humanities from 1972 to 1977. In July 2002, President George W. Bush bestowed upon him the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. His son, William Kristol, lives in Bethesda, MD.

Editorial Reviews

Himmelfarb has thoughtfully filled The Neoconservative Persuasion with pieces that, with one exception, have not appeared in previous collections. The subtitle, "Selected Essays," might lead readers to suppose that here must surely be Kristol's Greatest Hits—the best and most popular of his essays. But Kristol himself gathered together his Greatest Hits in an anthology in 1995 called Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea. The new book ought to be regarded, instead, as a Volume 2. It is faithful to his ideas and their evolution. And it offers an opportunity to evaluate his abilities as an essayist—his achievements as a thinker and writer within the little world known as the "New York intellectuals."
—The New York Times

Paul Berman

A remarkable introduction to one of the few people who actually liked being called a neoconservative…. The Neoconservative Persuasion merits celebration…. [A] wonderful book.” —James Q. Wilson, Wall Street Journal
 
“Kristol’s vigorous prose and trenchant arguments can be read with pleasure and profit by readers of all political stripes.” —Publishers Weekly
 
“Readers new to Kristol will find this an excellent introduction to a forceful, provocative, and witty writer.  Even if they seldom agree with what they read, they’ll likely enjoy him more than they may admit.” —Library Journal
 
“A sparkling collection of [Kristol’s] essays.  In a climate of cultural conformism…this Jewish intellectual, as independent-minded as they come, gave American Jews the best guidelines for becoming at once fully mature citizens of their country and fully mature representatives of their people.” —Jewish Ideas Daily

From the Publisher