The Conservative Mind
From Burke to Eliot

Name: The Conservative Mind
Brand: Blackstone Audiobooks
Availability: InStock
Author: Russell Kirk
ISBN: 9781483073682

Author: Russell Kirk

Narrator: Phillip Davidson

Unabridged: 19 hr 50 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing

Published: 11/18/2008

Categories: Nonfiction, Political Science, History & Theory, American Government, Political Ideologies

Synopsis

First published in 1953, this magnificent work will be remembered in ages to come as one of our century's most important legacies. The then-young Kirk wrote this during a time when liberalism was heralded as the only political and intellectual tradition in America. There is no doubt that this book is responsible to a large degree for the rise of conservatism as a viable and credible creed.Kirk defines "the conservative mind" by examining such brilliant men as Edmund Burke, James Fenimore Cooper, Alexis de Tocqueville, John Quincy Adams, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Benjamin Disraeli, Cardinal Newman, George Santayana, and finally, T. S. Eliot. Vigorously written, the book represents conservatism as an ideology born of sound intellectual traditions.

About Russell Kirk

Russell Kirk (1918–1994), historian of ideas, critic, essayist, editor, and novelist, was the author of thirty-two books. Among them are The Roots of American Order, The Politics of Prudence, Enemies of the Permanent Things, and six works of fiction. He received twelve honorary doctorates from American universities and many awards, including the Presidential Citizens Medal.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Joseph on February 07, 2017

I decided to read this book because of the recent election to try to get a sharper sense of one strand of . Whatever ideology Trump and his ilk are promulgating (white nationalism? reaction? populism) it is a far cry from Kirk's highly traditional, religiously orthodox, and stuffy conservatism. And......more

Goodreads review by Stephen on January 30, 2016

For most of human history, change has been a glacier -- slow to move, retreating as much as it advances. Since the scientific and industrial revolutions, however, change is less a glacier and more a snowball, moving with rapidity, becoming ever more drastic, and picking up speed. Russell Kirk would......more

Goodreads review by Ben on May 30, 2021

Having read a fair deal of Russell Kirk before finally turning to The Conservative Mind, this first and best-known of his works didn't hold many surprises. In fact, for me it tended most to reveal the foundations of Kirk's conservative mind, as the reader familiar with his later writings can see how......more

Goodreads review by Douglas on May 16, 2009

Excellent.......more

Goodreads review by Ben on October 08, 2013

When published by Russell Kirk in 1953, “Conservative Mind” was an oxymoron to morons, such were the stultifying orthodoxies of liberal thought. While it still may appear so to some, Russell’s grounding of the conservative American tradition “From Burke to Eliot” in fact gave a significant push to a......more

Quotes

“Kirk is assured a place of prominence in the intellectual histories for helping to define the ethical basis of conservatism. He has tried to pull conservatism away from the utilitarian premises of liberalism, toward which conservatism often veers, toward a philosophy rooted in ethics and culture.” Wall Street Journal

Awards

National Review’s 100 Best Nonfiction Books of the Century