Dear Imaginative Conservative Readers, The following is from August Heckscher, “Where are the American Conservatives?” Confluence 2 (1953): 54-65. I found this while researching at the University of Notre Dame a few weeks ago. Henry Kissinger edited Confluence while at Harvard, but the journal only lasted for seven volumes in the 1950s. I know very little about Heckscher, but this article [...]
Dear Imaginative Conservative readers, When I submitted part five of the reactions/reviews to Kirk’s magisterial The Conservative Mind, I claimed it to be the final part. I lied—but not with malicious intent. I’d forgotten I still had a few more reviews in the stack. That, or I simply spaced the memory. If you’ve ever seen [...]
Dear Imaginative Conservative Readers, This is the fifth and final round of the critics against Russell Kirk. I’ve offered quotes (I hope) from a fair and representative sampling of original reviews of The Conservative Mind (1953). Some of these praised Kirk, some offered fair criticisms, and some missed his point entirely. From what I can [...]
Bernard Theall, OSB, “A Survey and Defense of Conservative Way,” Books on Trial 12 (November 1953): 59. “The is surely one of the most heartening and thought-provoking books to have appeared in recent years” “In an age of ‘statistical morality’ and of the apotheosis of democracy, and when Catholics are being urged, as a noted [...]
Here in all of its glory is round three of reactions re: Kirk’s 1953 The Conservative Mind, the book that gave a name and a unity—at least briefly—to the post-war conservatism. Even those who hold little respect for Kirk regard this book as the beginning of all things conservative. In the standard left-ish history of [...]
As I continue to read through and digest the contemporary reviews of The Conservative Mind, I find I keep noticing certain common themes: 1) Few knew what to make of Kirk’s romantic style, though most reviewers appreciated it; 2) Catholics seem to have liked Kirk the most, seeing in him a latent Romanist; and 3) almost [...]
As some Imaginative Conservative readers know, I’ve the great privilege of working on a book on the endlessly fascinating Russell Kirk. At this point, I’ve written an introduction, three full chapters, and two partial chapters. I’ve written about 50,000 words, and I’m projecting a total word count for the completed project at roughly 120,000 words. The tentative [...]
Below is the December Macworld Cover planned for December 2011 issue. Enough said. […]
With stealth and no small amount of cowardice, the Greeks creep out of their strange gift, a large wooden horse, under the cover of night and safely within the locked city walls. Rather than face Aeneas and the Trojans as men in battle, the Greeks unlock the gates, letting their murderous comrades in, and proceed [...]
by Anna Scheithauer [ed. note: I’m very proud to call Anna one of my students. She is, as you’ll see below, a brilliant young person. She is what I would consider one of the best of the rising generation of Imaginative Conservatives, and I’m very glad to have her write for The Imaginative Conservative. She’s [...]
Russell Kirk’s home A friend of mine recently told me about a banner she saw hanging inside the entrance of an American public elementary school. “You’re all number one,” the banner read. I must admit that my reaction to this was rather strong, if not downright irate. Two immediate problems sprang to mind. [...]
Do any Imaginative Conservative readers know how the lie developed that Catholics advocated a “Divine Right of Kings” or that the concept is rooted in medieval society? It’s, of course, originally from the Orient (ancient Persia and Egypt), was reintroduced at the end of the Roman Republic, and resurfaced with a few in the Middle Ages. [...]
Some observations, rude and otherwise, from two weeks of traveling across the United States. I’m at the end of seven weeks of intense traveling. Frankly, I’m tired and more than a bit cranky. But, of course, I brought the travel on myself entirely. For what it’s worth, here are a few observations from my adventures—focused [...]
Yesterday was Christopher Dawson’s birthday. Well, it would’ve been. Arriving in this world in 1889, he died a happy and joyous death in 1970. Born into a blessedly happy and interesting Victorian family and raised in the idyllic and heady atmosphere of the short-lived Edwardian period, Dawson witnessed the horror of the world descending into [...]