R&L Logo R&L Logo
  • GENERAL
    • Browse by Subjects
    • New Releases
    • Coming Soon
    • Chases's Calendar
  • ACADEMIC
    • Textbooks
    • Browse by Course
    • Instructor's Copies
    • Monographs & Research
    • Reference
  • PROFESSIONAL
    • Education
    • Intelligence & Security
    • Library Services
    • Business & Leadership
    • Museum Studies
    • Music
    • Pastoral Resources
    • Psychotherapy
  • FREUD SET
Cover Image
Paperback
share of facebook share on twitter
Add to GoodReads

Neo-conservatism

The Autobiography of an Idea

Irvin Kristol

The movement called neo-conservatism has provided the intellectual foundation for the resurgence of American conservatism in our time. And if neo-conservatism can be said to have a father or an architect, that person is Irving Kristol. Schooled in radical socialism in the 1930s, Kristol grew disillusioned with the left and rose to become an ideological foe of the Soviet Union, an active editor and publisher, and a prolific writer in his own right. He helped move a generation of intellectuals to the conservative cause. Neoconservatism is the most comprehensive selection of Mr. Kristol's influential writings on politics and economics, as well as the best of his now-famous essays on society, religion, culture, literature, education, and—above all—the "values" issues that have come to define the neo-conservative critique of contemporary life. Composed over almost fifty years, these writings offer some of the most lucid, insightful, entertaining, and intellectually challenging essays of our time. “Often persuasive, and very wise...From the beginning, Mr. Kristol's writing has exhibited a wealth of common sense and understated wit. This book is full of both.”—Andrew Sullivan, New York Times Book Review. “Mr. Kristol possesses a genius for making his sophisticated and nuanced arguments appear the commonplace of everyman.... He has thought and written with admirable clarity, honesty, and courage.”—James Nuechterlein, Wall Street Journal.
  • Details
  • Details
  • Author
  • Author
  • TOC
  • TOC
  • Reviews
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Features
Ivan R. Dee
Pages: 512 • Trim: 6 x 9⅛
978-1-56663-228-7 • Paperback • March 1999 • $22.90 • (£17.99)
Subjects: History / Americas (North, Central, South, West Indies), Literary Criticism / General, Political Science / General, Political Science / History & Theory, Political Science / Public Policy / Social Policy
Irving Kristol is editor of The Public Interest and publisher of The National Interest. Currently he is John M. Olin Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C.
Part 1 SECTION I
Chapter 2 An Autobiographical Memoir 3
Part 3 SECTION II: RACE, SEX AND FAMILY
Chapter 4 Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results 43
Chapter 5 The Tragedy of "Multiculuralism" 50
Chapter 6 Reflections on Love and Family 54
Chapter 7 Men, Women and Sex 58
Chapter 8 AIDS and False Innocence 63
Chapter 9 Life Without Father 67
Part 10 SECTION III: FROM ADVERSARY CULTURE TO COUNTERCULTURE
Chapter 11 American Intellectuals and Foreign Policy 75
Chapter 12 Capitalism, Socialism, and Nihilism 92
Chapter 13 The Adversary Culture of Intellectuals 106
Chapter 14 The Cultural Revolution and the Capitalist Future 123
Chapter 15 Countercultures 136
Part 16 SECTION IV: CAPITALISM AND THE DEMOCRATIC IDEA
Chapter 17 Machiavelli and the Profanation of Politics 151
Chapter 18 About Equality 165
Chapter 19 The Frustrations of Affluence 179
Chapter 20 Utopianism, Ancient and Modern 184
Chapter 21 Social Reform: Gains and Losses 200
Chapter 22 Business and the "New Class: 205
Chapter 23 Corporate Capitalism in America 211
Chapter 24 On Conservatism and Capitalism 230
Chapter 25 The American Revolution as a Successful Revolution 235
Chapter 26 What is "Social Justice?" 253
Chapter 27 Adam Smith and the Spirit of Capitalism 258
Chapter 28 Socialism: An Obituary for an Idea 300
Part 29 SECTION V: THE CONSERVATIVE PROSPECT
Chapter 30 American Historians and the Democratic Idea 313
Chapter 31 Urban Civilization and Its Discontents 328
Chapter 32 The Republican Future 344
Chapter 33 "The Stupid Party" 349
Chapter 34 The Emergence of Two Republican Parties 354
Chapter 35 The New Populism: Not to Worry 359
Chapter 36 The Coming "Conservative Century" 364
Chapter 37 The New Face of American Politics 369
Chapter 38 America's "Exceptional Conservatism" 373
Part 39 SECTION VI: ON JEWS
Chapter 40 God and the Psychoanalysts 389
Chapter 41 Einstein: The Passion of Pure Reason 405
Chapter 42 Is Jewish Humor Dead? 420
Chapter 43 Christianity, Judaism, and Socialism 429
Chapter 44 The Future of American Jewry 442
Part 45 SECTION VII: SOME BACKWARD GLANCES
Chapter 46 Memoirs of a "Cold Warrior" 457
Chapter 47 Memoirs of a Trotskyist 469
Chapter 48 My Cold War 481
Chapter 49 Index of Names 487
Often persuasive, and very wise...From the beginning, Kristolís writing has exhibited a wealth of common sense and understated wit. This book is full of both.
— Andrew Sullivan; The New York Times


Mr. Kristol possesses a genius for making his sophisticated and nuanced arguments appear the commonplace of everyman...he has thought and written with admirable clarity, honesty, and courage.
— James Neuchterlein; The Wall Street Journal


Tracing the renewal of American conservatism

Neo-conservatism

The Autobiography of an Idea

Cover Image
Paperback
Summary
Summary
  • The movement called neo-conservatism has provided the intellectual foundation for the resurgence of American conservatism in our time. And if neo-conservatism can be said to have a father or an architect, that person is Irving Kristol. Schooled in radical socialism in the 1930s, Kristol grew disillusioned with the left and rose to become an ideological foe of the Soviet Union, an active editor and publisher, and a prolific writer in his own right. He helped move a generation of intellectuals to the conservative cause. Neoconservatism is the most comprehensive selection of Mr. Kristol's influential writings on politics and economics, as well as the best of his now-famous essays on society, religion, culture, literature, education, and—above all—the "values" issues that have come to define the neo-conservative critique of contemporary life. Composed over almost fifty years, these writings offer some of the most lucid, insightful, entertaining, and intellectually challenging essays of our time. “Often persuasive, and very wise...From the beginning, Mr. Kristol's writing has exhibited a wealth of common sense and understated wit. This book is full of both.”—Andrew Sullivan, New York Times Book Review. “Mr. Kristol possesses a genius for making his sophisticated and nuanced arguments appear the commonplace of everyman.... He has thought and written with admirable clarity, honesty, and courage.”—James Nuechterlein, Wall Street Journal.
Details
Details
  • Ivan R. Dee
    Pages: 512 • Trim: 6 x 9⅛
    978-1-56663-228-7 • Paperback • March 1999 • $22.90 • (£17.99)
    Subjects: History / Americas (North, Central, South, West Indies), Literary Criticism / General, Political Science / General, Political Science / History & Theory, Political Science / Public Policy / Social Policy
Author
Author
  • Irving Kristol is editor of The Public Interest and publisher of The National Interest. Currently he is John M. Olin Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
  • Part 1 SECTION I
    Chapter 2 An Autobiographical Memoir 3
    Part 3 SECTION II: RACE, SEX AND FAMILY
    Chapter 4 Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results 43
    Chapter 5 The Tragedy of "Multiculuralism" 50
    Chapter 6 Reflections on Love and Family 54
    Chapter 7 Men, Women and Sex 58
    Chapter 8 AIDS and False Innocence 63
    Chapter 9 Life Without Father 67
    Part 10 SECTION III: FROM ADVERSARY CULTURE TO COUNTERCULTURE
    Chapter 11 American Intellectuals and Foreign Policy 75
    Chapter 12 Capitalism, Socialism, and Nihilism 92
    Chapter 13 The Adversary Culture of Intellectuals 106
    Chapter 14 The Cultural Revolution and the Capitalist Future 123
    Chapter 15 Countercultures 136
    Part 16 SECTION IV: CAPITALISM AND THE DEMOCRATIC IDEA
    Chapter 17 Machiavelli and the Profanation of Politics 151
    Chapter 18 About Equality 165
    Chapter 19 The Frustrations of Affluence 179
    Chapter 20 Utopianism, Ancient and Modern 184
    Chapter 21 Social Reform: Gains and Losses 200
    Chapter 22 Business and the "New Class: 205
    Chapter 23 Corporate Capitalism in America 211
    Chapter 24 On Conservatism and Capitalism 230
    Chapter 25 The American Revolution as a Successful Revolution 235
    Chapter 26 What is "Social Justice?" 253
    Chapter 27 Adam Smith and the Spirit of Capitalism 258
    Chapter 28 Socialism: An Obituary for an Idea 300
    Part 29 SECTION V: THE CONSERVATIVE PROSPECT
    Chapter 30 American Historians and the Democratic Idea 313
    Chapter 31 Urban Civilization and Its Discontents 328
    Chapter 32 The Republican Future 344
    Chapter 33 "The Stupid Party" 349
    Chapter 34 The Emergence of Two Republican Parties 354
    Chapter 35 The New Populism: Not to Worry 359
    Chapter 36 The Coming "Conservative Century" 364
    Chapter 37 The New Face of American Politics 369
    Chapter 38 America's "Exceptional Conservatism" 373
    Part 39 SECTION VI: ON JEWS
    Chapter 40 God and the Psychoanalysts 389
    Chapter 41 Einstein: The Passion of Pure Reason 405
    Chapter 42 Is Jewish Humor Dead? 420
    Chapter 43 Christianity, Judaism, and Socialism 429
    Chapter 44 The Future of American Jewry 442
    Part 45 SECTION VII: SOME BACKWARD GLANCES
    Chapter 46 Memoirs of a "Cold Warrior" 457
    Chapter 47 Memoirs of a Trotskyist 469
    Chapter 48 My Cold War 481
    Chapter 49 Index of Names 487
Reviews
Reviews
  • Often persuasive, and very wise...From the beginning, Kristolís writing has exhibited a wealth of common sense and understated wit. This book is full of both.
    — Andrew Sullivan; The New York Times


    Mr. Kristol possesses a genius for making his sophisticated and nuanced arguments appear the commonplace of everyman...he has thought and written with admirable clarity, honesty, and courage.
    — James Neuchterlein; The Wall Street Journal


Features
Features
  • Tracing the renewal of American conservatism

ALSO AVAILABLE

  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of Mexico, Third Edition
  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of the United States
  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of Cuba, Third Edition
  • Cover image for the book Veritas: Harvard College and the American Experience
  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of Haiti, Second Edition
  • Cover image for the book Lyndon Johnson and the Great Society
  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of Ancient South America, Second Edition
  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of Argentina, New Edition
  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of Guatemala
  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of Trinidad and Tobago, New Edition
  • Cover image for the book Rendezvous with Destiny: A History of Modern American Reform
  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of Mesoamerica
  • Cover image for the book Shipwrecked: A True Civil War Story of Mutinies, Jailbreaks, Blockade-Running, and the Slave Trade
  • Cover image for the book How the Quakers Invented America
  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of the Dominican Republic
  • Cover image for the book What's So Funny?: Humor in American Culture
  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of Early North America
  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of Costa Rica, New Edition
  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of Ecuador
  • Cover image for the book Export Controls: A Contemporary History
  • Cover image for the book Rebel Lands of Cuba: The Campesino Struggles of Oriente and Escambray, 1934–1974
  • Cover image for the book The Human Tradition in the Atlantic World, 1500–1850
  • Cover image for the book A Fever in Salem: A New Interpretation of the New England Witch Trials
  • Cover image for the book Guiana and the Shadows of Empire: Colonial and Cultural Negotiations at the Edge of the World
  • Cover image for the book Saving the Planet: The American Response to the Environment in the Twentieth Century
  • Cover image for the book American Beliefs: What Keeps a Big Country and a Diverse People United
  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of Mexico, Third Edition
  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of the United States
  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of Cuba, Third Edition
  • Cover image for the book Veritas: Harvard College and the American Experience
  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of Haiti, Second Edition
  • Cover image for the book Lyndon Johnson and the Great Society
  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of Ancient South America, Second Edition
  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of Argentina, New Edition
  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of Guatemala
  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of Trinidad and Tobago, New Edition
  • Cover image for the book Rendezvous with Destiny: A History of Modern American Reform
  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of Mesoamerica
  • Cover image for the book Shipwrecked: A True Civil War Story of Mutinies, Jailbreaks, Blockade-Running, and the Slave Trade
  • Cover image for the book How the Quakers Invented America
  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of the Dominican Republic
  • Cover image for the book What's So Funny?: Humor in American Culture
  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of Early North America
  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of Costa Rica, New Edition
  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of Ecuador
  • Cover image for the book Export Controls: A Contemporary History
  • Cover image for the book Rebel Lands of Cuba: The Campesino Struggles of Oriente and Escambray, 1934–1974
  • Cover image for the book The Human Tradition in the Atlantic World, 1500–1850
  • Cover image for the book A Fever in Salem: A New Interpretation of the New England Witch Trials
  • Cover image for the book Guiana and the Shadows of Empire: Colonial and Cultural Negotiations at the Edge of the World
  • Cover image for the book Saving the Planet: The American Response to the Environment in the Twentieth Century
  • Cover image for the book American Beliefs: What Keeps a Big Country and a Diverse People United
facebook icon twitter icon instagram icon linked in icon NEWSLETTERS
ABOUT US
  • Mission Statement
  • Employment
  • Privacy
  • Accessibility Statement
CONTACT
  • Company Directory
  • Publicity and Media Queries
  • Rights and Permissions
  • Textbook Resource Center
AUTHOR RESOURCES
  • Royalty Contact
  • Production Guidelines
  • Manuscript Submissions
ORDERING INFORMATION
  • Rowman & Littlefield
  • National Book Network
  • Ingram Publisher Services UK
  • Special Sales
  • International Sales
  • eBook Partners
  • Digital Catalogs
IMPRINTS
  • Rowman & Littlefield
  • Lexington Books
  • Hamilton Books
  • Applause Books
  • Amadeus Press
  • Backbeat Books
  • Bernan
  • Hal Leonard Books
  • Limelight Editions
  • Co-Publishing Partners
  • Globe Pequot
  • Down East Books
  • Falcon Guides
  • Gooseberry Patch
  • Lyons Press
  • Muddy Boots
  • Pineapple Press
  • TwoDot Books
  • Stackpole Books
PARTNERS
  • American Alliance of Museums
  • American Association for State and Local History
  • Brookings Institution Press
  • Center for Strategic & International Studies
  • Council on Foreign Relations
  • Fairleigh Dickinson University Press
  • Fortress Press
  • The Foundation for Critical Thinking
  • Lehigh University Press
  • United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
  • Other Partners...