Conservatism in America since 1930: A Reader (Paperback)

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View the Table of Contents.   Read the Introduction.

"All the greats—Buckley, Hayek, Kirk, Friedman, Reagan—are represented in the fine anthology edited by Gregory L. Schneider, and the gloves occasionally come off"
—National Review

"An ambitious book, chock-full of the learned and provocative writing that characterized the opposition party all throughout the strife-torn 20th century. It is brutally honest about the movement's current predicament."
—The American Conservative

"Liberals and conservatives alike should have no trouble endorsing this anthology from 70 years of the conservative movement in the United States."—Library Journal

While there have long been libertarians, agrarians, individualists, collectivists, nationalists, and others who fit the contemporary label of "conservative," no cohesive conservative movement existed prior to World War II. How, then, did conservatism develop into such a powerful American political force?

Tracing the history of conservatism from the concerns and ideas of the Old Right, through the Cold War, the "Gingrich revolution," and into the present, Conservatism in America Since 1930 gathers a wide range of conservative writings and documents showcasing the development and protean character of the modern conservative intellectual and political movement.

The book includes essays from Russell Kirk, Milton Friedman, F.A. Hayek, William F. Buckley, Jr., Ronald Reagan, and Pat Buchanan, among others, and highlights key debates between the movement's factions. Along with essays by these canonical conservative figures, the volume also contains excerpts from sources less frequently cited, such as the Twelve Southerners and Seward Collins, as well as documents from conservative organizations and journals. The primary documents are supplemented by introductions which set the historical context and offer illuminating commentary on how conservatism shifted identity over the course of modern American history.