The Portable Conservative Reader
by Russell Kirk (Editor)
On This Page
Description
The Portable Conservative Reader illuminates the meaning of the conservative cause. In one of the most wide-ranging and thoughtful anthologies of conservative thought in the English and American traditions, Russell Kirk excavates conservatism's foundations. The breadth of conservative writing reveals that, at bottom, the conservative idea is not an economic theory nor a political program but a penetrating way of looking at the human condition. Here, Kirk brings together a diverse group of show more thinkers and material - including essays, poetry, and fiction - that articulate the conservative imagination, its veneration of tradition, prudence, variety, and the enduring fallibility and imperfectibility of mankind. These selections set forth basic premises and principles at work in the minds of Edmund Burke, Benjamin Disraeli, and T. S. Eliot in Britain, Alexander Hamilton, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Adams, and Irving Kristol in America, and many more who have elucidated this turn of mind. This balanced and surprising collection is a landmark study of the most potent political force of our time. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
This is a valuable anthology of essays and selections on the idea of conservatism in political thought. Ranging from Burke to Nisbet, there are selections from a wide variety of thinkers including philosophers, politicians, literary authors, and more. With a valuable introduction by Russel Kirk and a useful bibliography for further reading this collection provides a valuable adjunct to Kirk's own book, The Conservative Mind.
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information
Russell Kirk (1918-1994) was the author of The Conservative Mind, Eliot and His Age, The Roots of American Order, and twenty-six other books in several fields. He was the president of two educational foundations, editor of the quarterly University Bookman, recipient of several literary awards, and has been a visiting distinguished professor on show more both sides of the Atlantic. James McClellan (1937-2005) was James Bryce Visiting Fellow in American Studies at the Institute of United States Studies of the University of London and before that Senior Resident Scholar at Liberty Fund Inc. Some of his works include Joseph Story and the American Constitutional and The Federalist: A Student Edition. Jeffrey O. Nelson is senior vice president and chief marketing officer at the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. He edited two book collections-Redeeming the Time, by Russell Kirk, and Perfect Sowing: Reflections of a Bookman by Henry Regnery-and is co-founder of the Russell Kirk Center. show less
All Editions
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1982-03-25
- First words
- "What is conservatism?" Abraham Lincoln inquired rhetorically, as he campaigned for the presidency of the United States. "Is it not adherence to the old and tried, against the new and untried?"
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 232
- Popularity
- 140,277
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.28)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 2
- ASINs
- 3
