The modern-day Renaissance man who forged the conservative movement Noted conservative historian Lee Edwards, who knew William F. Buckley Jr. for more than forty years, delivers a much-needed intellectual biography of the man has been called "arguably the most important public intellectual in the United States in the past half century." In this concise and compelling book, Edwards reveals how Buckley did more than any other person to build the conservative movement. Once derided as a set of "irritable mental gestures," conservatism became, under Buckley's guidance, a political and intellectual force that transformed America. As conservatives debate the ideas that should drive their movement, William F. Buckley Jr.: The Maker of a Movement reminds us of the principles that animated Buckley, as well as the thinkers who inspired him. The four most important intellectual influences on this great molder of American conservatism, Edwards shows, were libertarian author and social critic Albert Jay Nock, conservative political scientist Willmoore Kendall, former Soviet spy Whittaker Chambers, and realpolitik apostle James Burnham. Having dug deep into the voluminous Buckley papers, Edwards also illuminates the profound influence of Buckley's close-knit family and his unwavering Catholic faith.
"If you want to understand not only the rise of the modern conservative movement but also how conservatives can regain their footing during these perilous times, you must read William F. Buckley Jr.: The Maker of a Movement. Lee Edwards, himself a conservative icon, describes in beautiful and concise prose the brilliance that was Buckley. The book, like Buckley, is fascinating, compelling, and edi
Mark Levin, bestselling author of Liberty and Tyranny
"Edwards provides a very effective overview of Buckley's life and thought, based on extensive research in the archives of Buckley correspondence. . . . An insightful, short intellectual biography of a remarkable man."
National Review
"Edwards emphasizes Buckley's intellectual life and development. But in strong, clean and elegant prose, he also celebrates the details of a life lived in full."
