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The Conservative Revolution: The Movement That Remade America

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In "The Conservative Revolution: The Movement That Remade America," author Lee Edwards does an excellent job of guiding readers through the growth of the Conservative movement in America. In his book, he not only illustrates the struggles that conservatives have faced as an opposition movement, he has also shown the struggles that continue to exist even after conservatives have succeeded in gaining power. By tying the conservative movement to the careers of four individual politicians, Edwards succeeds in giving a human face to the movement. In the early days of the conservative movement, as personified by Senator Robert Taft, Edwards shows how the movement grew in response to America's increased international prestige following WWII. With the emergence of Republican Presidential Candidate Barry Goldwater, Edwards shows how the conservative movement began to gain ground among the American public. The emergence of the conservative movement increases dramatically with the election of President Ronald Reagan and is then capped off with the 1994 election of Newt Gingrich as Speaker of the House. Luckily, Edwards does not end there. He is evenhanded in showing the errors made by conservatives as they take control of the branches of government and suggests that this is a struggle that has not yet seen its final chapter.

As a young conservative I have sought to learn as much history of the movement as possible. I have read stacks and stacks of books on conservative thought and those by the great conservatives. None cover so comprehensively the breadth and depth of the pivotal role of each of the four men about whom Edwards writes. Senators Taft and Goldwater, President Reagan and former Speaker Gingrich are the giants on whose shoulders all other conservative leaders today stand. Edwards intimate knowledge of the four is apparent and his writing ability is tremendous.

If you're looking for a thorough, well written introduction into the whole world of the conservative movement, this is where to start.

I'd be buying this book right now, if I didn't already own it.

The Conservative Revolution is an engaging read that will peak your interest with every page. It will surprise you in that so much of what happened almost forty years ago when the modern conservative movement was born, is occurring in the movement today. In the sixties, it was the conservatives that finally took the Republican Party away from the "me-too" liberal Republicans, and at the same time wrote the John Birch Society and Ayn Rand out of the movement. Today, the moderates are trying to write those of us that are principled conservatives out of the Republican Party. This well researched work will inform even those who lived through the birth of the movement. I highly recommend The Conservative Revolution to every reader that is interested in politics and conservatism.

We conservatives like to sermonize about the historical ignorance of the average American, but too many of us are just as ignorant of the history of our own conservative movement. If you're in that category, take an afternoon or two to read Lee Edwards' "The Conservative Revolution."

Edwards surveys the high points of the conservative movement, starting with "Mr. Republican" Sen. Robert Taft, through the Gingrich Revolution of 1994. He craftily threads the behind-the-scenes details of the movement with the historical events of the world at large, being sure to explain those events and their meaning and connection to the American political scene.

This is not "objective" history, of course; Edwards is one of us, and he isn't afraid to make his opinion known. But he is careful to provide a balanced, detached look at the facts, keeping his opinion separate.

If you enjoy this book and want to learn more about the two greatest political victories for conservatives this century, be sure to read F. Clifton White's "Why Reagan Won" and "Suite 3505: The Draft Goldwater Movement".

"The Conservative Revolution" is a fascinating detailed look at the history of the Conservative movement from the end of World War II until the late 1990's. It is a very good history and I learned a great deal that I did not know before (I especially appreciated the background on Robert Taft).

As a Gen-X conservative, though, I feel I probably have a different view about events than Lee Edwards who apparantly is old enough to have witnessed most of this history first hand. For one thing, I find it extremely hard to think of Barry Goldwater as a true conservative, given his pro-choice abortion views and his anti-school prayer stance. Also, as a person who experienced his teen years during the 1980's, I also can't forget that Barry Goldwater loved to run to the microphone to criticize Ronald Reagan any chance he got. To me it is obvious that conservatives of the 1960's were following a complete charlatan, and it is no wonder he went down in landslide defeat.

Which brings us to the point that the book should have had far more information about Ronald Reagan than it did. Ronald Reagan is the true Rock of Gibraltar of the conservative movement and he should be the centerpiece of the book rather than sharing space with Goldwater and Gingrich.

However, I do highly recommend this book simply for the reason that most conservatives do not know the history of the conservative movement and this book is the best I have seen in giving that history.

Lee Edwards' book is a brilliant, informative, and educational chronicle of the rise of American conservatism over the past 50 years. He deftly examines the liberal excesses that led to the increasing acceptance of right-of-center ideas. The book is most effective in its analysis of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan, although a bit more could be written about Newt Gingrich and post-Reagan conservative figures. But overall, it is required reading for those who seek to understand America's rightward shift.

Lee Edwards has always done a wonderful job writing the history and biographies of many of the key players that made conservatism what it is. Unfortunately, trying to cram the events and people that made conservatism what it is, even by only focusing on four of those players, tends to obscure the individual strengths and weaknesses of those players. I commend Edwards for his effort in writing this book. God knows that conservatism has not received its due attention by historians. And as usual, Edwards' book is very readable and informative. However, in my opinion, his time would be better spent continuing to write about the individual heroes of conservatism rather than trying to summarize the movement.

America is being remade, but not by these guys. A hollywood B actor, an adulterer, and other assorted criminals. Not that many of those on the other side are a lot better. Start thinking, judging each candidate for who he tells you he is. They usually do. Deep insight?

A pretty good overview of the Conservative movement. I was especially moved by the eloquent pages on Barry Goldwater, the last true Conservative to run for President. Reagan wasn't bad but he never got far enough away from his Holywood socialist roots (and he infected us with the Bush twins - better than Clinton but liberals none the less). Even as he was facing down the Soviets he introduced about as much government intrusion into our lives as Clinton has. But then too many young conservatives today don't even really know what the word means or can explain the roots of the philosophy behind it. This book is a good start but make certain you read some of the classic post-war capitalist writers like Ayn Rand to get a full view of the birth of the American conservative movement.