Overview

This spirited book traces the roots of liberalism through the noblest traditions, virtues, institutions and longings embedded in Western culture. Liberalism is under attack from both left and right, but anti-liberals have failed to understand how the tradition defines our idea of civic virtue. Liberalism is not an ideology that stands above our practices and judges them, but a practice itself, an inheritance of virtues, institutions, customs, and longings embedded in our culture and passed on through our memories and stories of moral heroes. In this book, Buckley explains how we learned magnanimity from the Code of Chivalry and to avoid brutishness from the Code of the Gentleman; how, through the stories of Hans Christian Andersen and the novels of Charles Dickens, kindness became a liberal virtue; how the republican virtue of the Founders can be traced back to fourteenth century Sienese merchants. From the stories that comprise the Western Tradition of liberalism, we learned the civic virtues that are the efficient secret of American constitutional government. The anti-liberal cult of wokeness has attempted to cancel this tradition, but it will not long survive. It offers a creed of sin without absolution, of guilt without soul-easing joys, of frowns without laughter. It rejects the West's high culture and offers nothing in its place. Without learning, art, industry, or anything that might attract a person, its emptiness will soon be seen by all, and liberalism will continue to inspire the civic virtues of our culture.

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9781641774031

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Reviews

""Are conservatives the only liberals left? F.H. Buckley's intriguing and intelligent book demystifies the confusion surrounding the real meaning of liberalism. His is a compelling argument and a great book that conservatives and genuine liberals should read."" --Frank Furedi author of The War Against The Past: Why The West Must Fight For Its History ""A bracing correction to mistaken assumptions left and right, and a vigorous entry into the debate over the future of the republic."" --George Weigel Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center ""F.H. Buckley gives us a whirlwind tour of America's true philosophical origins, all to show us that the current path our once-and-future great country currently slouches down is unsustainable. By revealing the roots of liberalism, Buckley seeks to save us from the forces of tyranny and decay. let's hope enough Americans heed his call."" --Brandon J. Weichert author of A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine

"""Are conservatives the only liberals left? F.H. Buckley's intriguing and intelligent book demystifies the confusion surrounding the real meaning of liberalism. His is a compelling argument and a great book that conservatives and genuine liberals should read."" --Frank Furedi author of The War Against The Past: Why The West Must Fight For Its History ""A bracing correction to mistaken assumptions left and right, and a vigorous entry into the debate over the future of the republic."" --George Weigel Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center ""F.H. Buckley gives us a whirlwind tour of America's true philosophical origins, all to show us that the current path our once-and-future great country currently slouches down is unsustainable. By revealing the roots of liberalism, Buckley seeks to save us from the forces of tyranny and decay. let's hope enough Americans heed his call."" --Brandon J. Weichert author of A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine"

Author Information

F.H. Buckley is a foundation professor at George Mason University's Scalia School of Law. He has also taught at McGill, the Sorbonne (Paris II), and Sciences Po in Paris. His most recent books are Progressive Conservatism (2023), Curiosity (2021), American Secession (2020), The Republican Workers Party (2018), The Republic of Virtue (2017), The Way Back (2016) and The Once and Future King (2015). He is a frequent media guest and has appeared on Morning Joe, CNN, C-SPAN's Washington Journal, Radio France, NPR, and many others. He is a citizen of Canada and became an American citizen on Tax Day, April 15, 2014. He lives in Alexandria, VA with his wife, Esther, and two German Shepherds.

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