# Recommend a book on Modern American Conservatism

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-on-modern-american-conservatism/245388>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [May 16, 2004, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-on-modern-american-conservatism/245388 "2004-05-16T05:37:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kel_Varnsen_Latex_Division)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2004, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-on-modern-american-conservatism/245388/1 "2004-05-16T05:37:15Z")

</div>

What is a good book that explores the today’s conservative thught and compares it to liberal thought that is written from a conservative prospective? Is Robert Bork’s _Slouching Towards Gomorrah_ really as wacky as people say?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![PigArcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@PigArcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigArcher)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2004, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-on-modern-american-conservatism/245388/2 "2004-05-16T06:20:14Z")

</div>

[Parliament of Whores](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0802139701/qid=1084688209/sr=1-8/ref=sr_1_8/104-3078176-3143127?v=glance&s=books) by P.J. O’Rourke

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![biqu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@biqu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biqu)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2004, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-on-modern-american-conservatism/245388/3 "2004-05-16T12:42:15Z")

</div>

Two by Dinesh D’Souza:

[ul]  
[li][Letters to a Young Conservative](http://www.dineshdsouza.com/aboutLetters.htm)[/li][li][What’s So Great About America](http://www.dineshdsouza.com/aboutAmerica.html)[/li][/ul]

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2004, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-on-modern-american-conservatism/245388/4 "2004-05-16T16:28:16Z")

</div>

_Moving This Thread To Cafe Society_, by Czarcasm.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Renob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8c91f0/32.png) [@Renob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renob)\
**Post date:** [May 17, 2004, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-on-modern-american-conservatism/245388/5 "2004-05-17T14:49:19Z")

</div>

There are two good books, written by conservatives, that trace the modern conservative movement: _The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America since 1945_ by George Nash and _The Conservative Revolution_ by Lee Edwards. Both are good, readable books.

However, if you’re looking for a book that talks about conservatism today and contrasts it to liberalism, then you’ll need to be more precise about what you mean by conservatism. Do you mean neoconservatism (then you may want to check out Irving Kristol’s _Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea_ or if you want a fresher perspective, anything by David Frum should do)? Or do you mean the Religious Right? Ralph Reed has written a couple of books on that. If you mean the old isolationist/anti-immigrant right, then check out Pat Buchanan’s recent book. If you’re looking for a libertarian perspective, then _Libertarianism: A Primer_ by David Boaz is good. The anti-modernist right is well represented by Bork’s _Slouching Towards Gommorah_, although he does go off the deep end, IMHO. There is no book that really encapsulates what it means to be “conservative” today, because there is no consensus what “conservative” means.