Roots Of American Order [Hardcover]

Russell Kirk (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2003

What holds America together? In this classic work, Russell Kirk describes the beliefs and institutions that have nurtured the American soul and commonwealth. Beginning with the Hebrew prophets, Kirk examines in dramatic fashion the sources of American order. His analytical narrative might be called "a tale of five cities": Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London, and Philadelphia. For an understanding of the significance of America at the dawn of a new century, Russell Kirk's masterpiece on the history of American civilization is unsurpassable. This edition includes a new foreword by the distinguished historian Forrest McDonald.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Rambling scholarship that affirms faith in American ideals and institutions.

Copyright 1992 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Russel Kirk (1918-1994) is widely regarded as one of the principal architects of the p ostwar conservative intellectual movement. A columnist, essayist, novelist, historian, and critic, Kirk's best known work is the Conservative Mind: From Burke to Eliot.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 559 pages
• Publisher: Intercollegiate Studies Inst; 1 edition (July 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932236082
• ISBN-13: 978-1932236088
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,135,731 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The American Cause, February 23, 2005

By 

Steve Jackson "stevejackson100atyahoocom" (New England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Roots Of American Order (Paperback)

Russell Kirk was perhaps the most distinguished American conservative writer of the twentieth century. His life's pursuit was the question of order: how can society maintain the balance between freedom and license, community and individual. In later works, Kirk turned to the question of how modern society can retain an allegiance to the permanent things in the face of decay.

THE ROOTS OF AMERICAN ORDER is a massive study that is in many respects the culmination of Kirk's life's work. Tracing the concept of order from ancient times to nineteenth century America, Kirk highlights those thinkers and ages have provided the United States with her institutions. Starting with the ancient Israelites and ending with Orestes Brownson (the American Burke who, like Kirk, was a convert to Catholicism) Kirk distills the influence of each on American life. In a sense there are four cities that influenced America: Jerusalem, Athens, Rome and London.

Kirk even claims some for the American cause that you might not suspect have a role in a conservative history of culture. Kirk rescues Hume from the caricature of the great skeptic. Instead, Hume is the moderate skeptic who demolished the rationalist pretenses of the philosophes. Kirk argues that the founders (including Jefferson) were fundamentally conservative; practical men seeking to preserve the heritage of English culture and institutions rather than create a system of government from scratch like the French revolutionaries.

This book isn't perfect. I have it on good authority that Kirk was in error in describing the levelers of Cromwell's time as egalitarians. There are some organizational problems as well, such as the section on the Crusades. How that episode of history was a factor in America's order isn't exactly made clear.

Russell Kirk is an important thinker who has certainly not been given his due, particularly by the contemporary conservative movement. Too much interested in the permanent things, Kirk's genteel writings are out of place in the "take no prisoners" world of contemporary conservative journalism. However, there are some signs of a revival of interest in Kirk's thought, most recently by Wes McDonald's recent study. A more basic statement of his creed can be found in his work THE AMERICAN CAUSE.

This edition contains an interesting, albeit too brief, introduction by the distinguished historian Forrest McDonald.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why is this book out of print?, December 27, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Roots of American Order (Paperback)

My first Kirk book, "The Roots of American Order" stands as one of the most influential books I have read, and turned me into an instant fan of his writings. In an age when citizens are searching what it is to be an American, this book describes its vast and rich history and offers remedies for the future. Its scope stretches the history of the western hemisphere but its readability is surprisingly lucid. If anyone has a chance to grab this rare document I highly recommend securing it and treasuring its infinite wisdom. This is a book I wish all I know could have a copy.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic!, December 2, 1999

By 

Prof. Lee Cheek, Brewton-Parker College (Mt. Vernon, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The roots of American order (Paperback)

Kirk's Roots is a tour de force of the Western tradition. It is simply one of the finest surveys of the classical, religious, and European influences on American political thought ever composed. An erudite jem of prose for both general readers and scholars.