Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea

by Irving Kristol

Book Overview

The most comprehensive selection of Mr. Kristol's influential writings on politics and economics, and the best of his now-famous essays on society, religion, culture, literature, education, and-above... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0028740211
• ISBN13: 9780028740218
• Release Date: September 1995
• Publisher: Free Press
• Length: 512 Pages
• Weight: 1.97 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 6.4" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Father of modern Conservative Punditry

Irving Kristol has been declared by some to be the father of neo-conservatism. This is the same philosophical group that has gained such prominence of late in the Pentagon and Bush White House. The same group that Pat Buchanan claims are Liberals rotting away the core of Conservativism. Neo-conservatives are said to be `Liberals who've been mugged'. Supposedly this awakens them from their idealist fantasies into the cold, hard world called reality. This book is pieced together from articles written by Kristol spanning over half a century on a wide range of topics. It quickly and sadly becomes clear that Kristol's ideas have had a HUGE influence on modern Conservative polemics. Many of his ideas echo in the words of Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage and many others. However unlike the members of that list of shame Irving Kristol generally manages to retain his dignity and not delve into the infantile behavior of his unfortunate emulators. The book chronicles Kristol's journey from young Trotskyite to anti-communist liberal to just plain anti-liberal. I suppose once Communism began to fade Kristol needed to focus his dissatisfaction somewhere and he never forgave those liberals who worked as apologists for Stalin. Kristol also built up a high degree of animosity towards liberals during the radical era of the sixties. I do recommend this book for anyone interested in learning about where today's Conservative pundits got their ideas from. It certainly makes Limbaugh and crew look far less creative. Kristol also has a much better writing style and a much wider array of interests than today's Conservative writers and if liberals can get past some of Kristol's more distasteful and sometimes pompous views they may even find themselves agreeing with some of his points. It's on the last page that Kristol really seems to come apart at the seams. Here are words by Kristol that could have come straight from something written by Coulter or Hannity: "But what began to concern me more and more were the clear signs of rot and decadence germinating within American society - a rot and decadence that was no longer the consequence of liberalism but was the actual agenda of contemporary liberalism." Kristol, Neo-Conservativism p. 486 "I no longer had to pretend to believe - what in my heart I could no longer believe - that liberals were wrong because they subscribe to this or that erroneous opinion on this or that topic. No - liberals were wrong, liberals are wrong, because they are liberals. What is wrong with liberalism is liberalism - a metaphysics and a mythology that is woefully blind to human and political reality." Kristol, Neo-Conservativism p. 486

A very good overview of Krisol's beleifs...

Whether you agree or disagree with Kristol on any of the issues that he writes about is besides the point. Kristol is an extremely talented and intelligent writer and would be whether we was a neo-con, a old conservative, new liberal or whatever. Thus if you disagree with any of the points outlined in Kristol's book then do not let it turn you off from reading it, as it is still very educational about the neoconservative ideology.However the books real merits are that it is organized so well into essays rather than just one long rant or a few long and preachy chapters. Because everything in this book is jsut something that Kristol wrote at one time or another, you can read just one essay a day or a few a day as most are rather short. Furthermore the table of contents provides great direction about any issue that Kristol wrote about ranging from Race, Sex, and family to Jews, to Capitalism and the Democratic Idea. Because each essay is so easy to read and the individual issues are easy to find this tome can be easily used as a reference source and if you need to know anything about the neo- conservative ideology be sure to look here first, especially if you think that he is wrong about everything.

A life in thought

This book is a breathtaking collection of social thought--sober, lucid, even profound--on the possibilities and dangers of liberal society.

A corrective

As the author of the review below is clearly a madman, a corrective is in order. Kristol thinks clearly, writes elegantly, and maintains an almost courtly good-humor and reserve.