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.

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9780465022236

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Reviews

<p> 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

"""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"

Author Information

Irving Kristol, the founder and editor of the Public Interest, was also a regular contributor for three decades to the Wall Street Journal. He was the author of Two Cheers for Capitalism, On the Democratic Idea in America, Reflections of a Neoconservative, and Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea.

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