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Russell Kirk: American Conservative Hardcover – October 6, 2015

by Bradley J. Birzer (Author)

16 customer reviews

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Emerging from two decades of the Great Depression and the New Deal and facing the rise of radical ideologies abroad, the American Right seemed beaten, broken, and adrift in the early 1950s. Although conservative luminaries such as T. S. Eliot, William F. Buckley Jr., Leo Strauss, and Eric Voegelin all published important works at this time, none of their writings would match the influence of Russell Kirk's 1953 masterpiece The Conservative Mind. This seminal book became the intellectual touchstone for a reinvigorated movement and began a sea change in Americans' attitudes toward traditionalism.

In Russell Kirk, Bradley J. Birzer investigates the life and work of the man known as the founder of postwar conservatism in America. Drawing on papers and diaries that have only recently become available to the public, Birzer presents a thorough exploration of Kirk's intellectual roots and development. The first to examine the theorist's prolific writings on literature and culture, this magisterial study illuminates Kirk's lasting influence on figures such as T. S. Eliot, William F. Buckley Jr., and Senator Barry Goldwater―who persuaded a reluctant Kirk to participate in his campaign for the presidency in 1964.

While several books examine the evolution of postwar conservatism and libertarianism, surprisingly few works explore Kirk's life and thought in detail. This engaging biography not only offers a fresh and thorough assessment of one of America's most influential thinkers but also reasserts his humane vision in an increasingly inhumane time.

Russell Kirk: American Conservative

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Product Details

Hardcover: 608 pages
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky (October 6, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0813166187
ISBN-13: 978-0813166186
Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.7 x 9.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #264,481 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #198 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy > Movements > Humanism
- #799 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Ideologies & Doctrines > Conservatism & Liberalism
- #1457 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Leaders & Notable People > Political

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not just a great conservative thinker

By Sacred Art Lover on November 13, 2015

Format: Hardcover

Very readable about a fascinating man; not just a great conservative thinker. This biography is great for a lot of reasons but fun to read because Kirk was as creative and interesting of a person as lived in the 20th century; like G.K Chesterton; J.R.R. Tolkien, Karol Wotyla or Winston Churchill. Truly evil men like Eichmann are boring but imaginative conservatives like Kirk alway surprise and delight as this work shows!

Furthermore; if you know anything about Birzer's work within conservative intellectual circles you know that he was one of the only people with the necessary intellectual/historical/philosophical range to cover Kirk's many ideas. On top of this; it is fair to say that Birzer is the first author to have actually had access to Kirk's material. These two facts together mean that Birzer is able to explore the richness and origins of Kirk's thought in a way that helps it to hang together without shrinking it to their proportions. Too many critics have approached Kirk as a sort of philosophical uber-Republican; but Birzer brilliantly outlines how Kirk's vision was so much wider, deeper and richer than so many of his contemporaries. This means that even though this book is very long and exhaustive it is very far from a redundant rehashing of stories or ideas chapter after chapter; rather it is like the building crescendo of a life well lived.

I have read everything by Kirk and I would recommend this new book for anyone that has read Kirk's few big works like Roots of American Order,, Conservative Mind, etc. This is not the place to start with Kirk; turn first to the original works; but this is by far the best secondary work on the man and his writings!

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Invaluable Guide to Kirk's Life and Mind

By Alan Cornett on December 8, 2015

Format: Hardcover

Bradley Birzer has given us what will stand as the definitive biography of Russell Kirk. As someone who knew Dr. Kirk and worked for him, I approached the book with anticipation, but also apprehension. Any fears were allayed, however. Birzer is sympathetic with Kirk, but freely questions some of his decisions in his balanced treatment. Birzer's prose is readable and his content expansive. Anyone interested in the American Conservative movement and 20th Century intellectual history will find Russell Kirk: American Conservative invaluable.

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Excellent!

By SockPuppet on May 14, 2016

Format: Hardcover

Anyone who has a passing acquaintance with Russell Kirk’s work knows he emphasized culture over politics, and thought that only by way of cultural renewal might we eventually achieve political health. So, it is perhaps unsurprising that Bradley Birzer’s impressive biography, Russell Kirk: American Conservative, provides a rich and convincingly articulated examination of Kirk’s intellectual development that stresses Kirk’s Christian humanism and his commitment to a Republic of Letters more than politics conventionally understood, and that honors and pays close attention to Kirk’s fiction as well as his non-fiction work.

For readers interested in understanding and exploring Kirk’s influences, Birzer provides a useful roadmap. Major, indispensable figures such as Burke and Eliot (the two most influential thinkers in Kirk’s life) and Babbitt and More (two critical early guides) receive treatment, as do several others. Kirk was always something of a stoic, even after his conversion to Catholicism in 1964, and Marcus Aurelius always remained close to his heart. (Kirk had The Meditations with him on his deathbed.) Various libertarians from Kirk’s youth that he later marginalized or even excised from his intellectual biography are given their due, as is the sociologist Robert Nisbet, whose scholarship provided Kirk with a non-libertarian anti-statism that helped render figures like Albert Jay Nock and Isabel Paterson increasingly unnecessary. Wilhelm Ropke comes to light as Kirk’s favorite economist, and Birzer also explores various connections between Kirk and the political philosophers Eric Voegelin and Leo Strauss. One small criticism I have is that Birzer seems to insist too strongly that Kirk’s assessment of Strauss never took a downturn.Read more ›

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An impressive work of scholarship

By Thomas Waters on January 17, 2016

Format: Hardcover

Bradley J. Birzer, the author of RUSSELL KIRK: AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE, was a professor of mine when I was a freshman at Hillsdale College in 2008. During the first week of the Western Heritage course that he taught, we were assigned an essay by Russell Kirk (“Civilization Without Religion?”), and being a stereotypical university student at the time, I must admit that I was not particularly interested. As I continued my studies, though, I decided to investigate the man’s ideas more closely in order to determine why he was so frequently praised by other students and faculty on campus. Thus, during my sophomore year, I purchased a compilation of his essays from the college bookstore, but after reading the volume, I continued to believe that Kirk was no more than a curmudgeon with a rather limited understanding of the modern world.

After recently completing Birzer’s book, I remain convinced that Kirk was a curmudgeon; however, I now have a far more sympathetic perspective of the man and his ideas. Indeed, I have come to realize that Kirk thought very deeply about the world around him, and as a prolific writer of both (horror) fiction and non-fiction, he conveyed his belief that it was mankind’s duty to “conserve, to preserve, and to pass on to future generations the best of the humane tradition” in such areas as literature and philosophy. It was in this sense that Kirk was most clearly a conservative. Although he was certainly involved in politics—for instance, advising Goldwater’s 1964 presidential campaign and writing for William F. Buckley’s NATIONAL REVIEW—he rejected the traditional left-right political spectrum and believed that a candidate’s personality and integrity were just as important as his or her views on particular matters.Read more ›

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

Amazing work done by an amazing mind

Amazing work done by an amazing mind. Russell Kirk's work made it possible for Rationalism and Conservatism to move forward in an America steeped in an entitlement mindset.

Published 3 days ago by Amazon Customer

A very solid work on one of the most influential men of the 20th...

In a few short days, I journeyed through the 75 years that Russell Kirk lived on this earth from his humble beginnings in rural Michigan to his final home going at Piety Hill in... Read more

Published 1 month ago by Efrem Sepulveda

Thorough and readable

Superb survey of Kirk's life, providing both an engaging biographical introduction to Kirk the man and a wide-ranging survey of his thought, both what influenced him and whom he... Read more

Published 2 months ago by R. Thomas

A True Man of Letters

Wonderful book on Russell Kirk, Birzer has done a great job presenting kirks many layers. I especially liked the chapters relating to Kirks life in the army, teaching at Michigan... Read more

Published 3 months ago by Jakob Renner

Five Stars

Excellent.

Published 3 months ago by Barbara pusz

cofounder of the conservative movement

Great book. Learned alot about him.surprised that he wrote horror. it went depth about the conservative thinkers from the 1930's on great book

Published 3 months ago by chris

I am learning much about Russell Kirk and other like minded people...

A fascinating read if you have any interest in political philosophy. The book is well researches, organized, and documented. Read more

Published 4 months ago by Edna Nelson

It is very informative, interesting and persuasive!

Published 6 months ago by cw

Highly recommended!

Birzer's biography of Kirk is readable and informative. Combining the history of ideas with the life of the man who synthesized them into a humanist canon for our time, Russell... Read more

Published 7 months ago by Mountainous Bill

Bizer writes in an engaging and excellent style which contributes to...

As Plutarch did in his Parallel Lives, Dr. Bradley Birzer parallels the lives that influenced, interacted and reflected the conservative mind in Russell Kirk: American... Read more

Published 7 months ago by Bradley Beck

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