Bradley J. Birzer is Russell Amos Kirk Chair in American Studies and professor of history at Hillsdale College and interim president and CEO of the American Conservative magazine. He is also the second Visiting Scholar of Conservative Thought and Policy, University of Colorado-Boulder, and the author of American Cicero: The Life of Charles Carroll and Sanctifying the World: The Augustinian Life and Mind of Christopher Dawson. Birzer is a cofounder of and senior contributor to The Imaginative Conservative.
An extraordinary book. Birzer has written a capacious and deeply
humane treatment of an important thinker, writer, and actor who has
been largely forgotten by an America that once regarded him as a
singular and important voice. This lively and fascinating book will
be read and talked about."" - Patrick Deneen, author of Democratic
Faith
""Bradley J. Birzer's Russell Kirk will blow away the stereotypes
of what it means to be a conservative in modern America. Kirk's
thinking is sharp, his writing is rich, and the fruits of his
imagination retain their power to strike even the most skeptical of
readers. Birzer has produced an essential introduction to this
towering figure."" - Gary L. Gregg, Mitch McConnell Chair in
Leadership, University of Louisville
"" Russell Kirk: American Conservative [is] a beautifully written
and deeply insightful biography. Birzer traces the development of
Kirk's ideas, especially the influence Burke, Dawson, Eliot and
(surprise) the political philosopher Leo Strauss. He explores
Kirk's concept of the transcendent, which moved from Stoicism to
""full communion with the Catholic Church."" And he considers
Kirk's forays in the public square, not least his association with
Barry Goldwater, the 1964 presidential candidate."" - Wall Street
Journal
""Given the confused and dispirited state of American conservatism
at the present moment, it is high time for a Russell Kirk revival.
The very thought of such a revival is appealing, even exhilarating,
and the appearance of Bradley J. Birzer's splendid and exhaustively
researched biography of Kirk just might provide the catalyst needed
to set it in motion."" - National Review
""Birzer covers it all, from Kirk's family life and Catholic
conversion to his disputes with Jaffa and other Straussians over
the meaning of the Declaration of Independence.At last, we have the
definitive book about this important, fascinating, and good man.""
- Claremont Review
""The new biography mines Kirk's vast archive respectfully,
thouroughly and eloquently.[A]n engaging biography of one of the
most influential and yet enegmatic figures on the American Right.""
- Mark Pulliam, Library of Law & Liberty
""A diligent and adulatory study of Kirk's life and thought. Birzer
succeeds admirably."" - Christopher Caldwell, New York Times
""This wonderful work is [...] a fascinating account of a great
catholic and conservative."" - Catholic Medical Quarterly
""Birzer is the first researcher to have been granted full access
to Kirk's letters, diaries, and draft manuscripts. He has avoided -
as others haven't - defining Kirk by his list of accomplishments
and has pieced together a comprehensive, complex account of Kirk's
personality, motivations, and influences."" - Los Angeles Review of
Books
""By presenting this thorough portrait of an extraordinary man,
Birzer allows us to commune with Kirk. That is an act of authentic
piety."" - First Things
""Birzer demonstrates, with tremendous skills and wide-ranging
research, how Kirk focused on 'the whole, the universal principles
that hold one person and one culture together at any one moment of
time and across time.' [T]his biography provides an excellent
history, and often pointed critique, of American conservatism and
politics in the 20th century."" - Chronicles
""Mr. Birzer's penetrating look at the life and thought of Russell
Kirk places him at the fountainhead of the conservative movement we
have inherited today. Love or hate Kirk, this should be required
reading for conservatives who wish to rediscover their roots, and
perhaps refurnish our politics with the permanent things."" -
Washington Times
""Birzer, a historian by training, is a vibrant biographer and
sympathetic guide to Kirk's own historical orientation. Birzer not
only chronicle's Kirk's own life but also expertly explores his
context and competitors. Birzer also gives us the first extended
measure of Kirk the man. We are indebted to Birzer for a book that,
like the principles of conservatism, will endure, ennoble, and
encourage."" - Modern Age Journal
""In a splendid, meticulously researched biography [...] Bradley J.
Birzer ably reveals the complexities of Kirk's thinking."" -
Claremont Review of Books
""In the course of sharing Kirk's life, Birzer does a wonderful job
of exploring the conservative movement in the middle and late
twentieth century. There is so much here to be learned, enjoyed,
and maybe even emulated."" - Touchstone
""No other figure in 20th-century American political life deserved
an exemplary biographical study more than Russell Amos Kirk. Thanks
to Birzer, such an important work now exists. Birzer has a truly
amazing command of the primary sources, and his archival labors
evince the work of a superior scholar and talented historian."" -
Choice
""Dr. Birzer not only chronicles Kirk's own life but also expertly
explores his context and competitors. While Kirk is not unknown to
today's conservatives, the vitality of Dr. Birzer's narrative
coupled with its insightful recovery of requisite conservative
themes will keep Kirk from becoming a lifeless icon or byword.We
are indebted to Dr. Birzer for a book that, like the principles of
conservatism, will endure, ennoble, and encourage."" - USSA News
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