Russell Kirk

The Conservative Mind: From Burke to Eliot by Russell Kirk is arguably one of the greatest contributions to twentieth-century American Conservatism. Brilliant in every respect, from its conception to its choice of significant figures representing the history of intellectual conservatism, The Conservative Mind launched the modern American Conservative Movement. A must-read.

What holds America together? In this classic work, Russell Kirk describes the beliefs and institutions that have nurtured the American soul and commonwealth. Beginning with the Hebrew prophets, Kirk examines in dramatic fashion the sources of American order. His analytical narrative might be called "a tale of five cities:" Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London, and Philadelphia. For an understanding of the significance of America at the dawn of a new century,...

Eliot and His Age remains the best introduction to T. S. Eliot's life, ideas, and literary works. It is the essential starting place for anyone who would understand what Eliot was about. Russell Kirk's view of his older friend is sympathetic but not adulatory. His insights into Eliot's writings are informed by wide reading in the same authors who most influenced the poet, as well as by similar experiences and convictions. Kirk elaborates here a significant...

A founding father of the American conservative movement, Russell Kirk (1918-94) was also a renowned and bestselling writer of fiction. Kirk's focus was the ghost story, or "ghostly tale" - a "decayed art" of which he considered himself a "last remaining master." Old House of Fear, Kirk's first novel, revealed this mastery at work. Its 1961 publication was a sensation, outselling all of Kirk's other books combined, including The Conservative Mind,...

In this classic title, Kirk outlines ten principles of conservative thought, summarizes ten vital conservative books, and offers brief accounts of ten eminent, internationally important conservatives. This book, written by the founder of modern conservatism in America, reflects several decades of learning, travel, and practical politics.

In this, the liveliest and most accessible one-volume life of Edmund Burke, Russell Kirk has ingeniously combined the public and the private man into a living whole. He lucidly unfolds Burke's philosophy and offers a fresh assessment of Burke, a statesman enjoying even greater influence today than in his own time. Kirk defines four great struggles in the life of Burke: his work for conciliation with the American colonies; his involvement in cutting...