ICON OF CONSERVATIVE POLITICS

Sam Tanenhaus

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Sam Tanenhaus, long-time editor of The New York Times Book Review (2004-2013), began writing his biography of William F. Buckley in 1998, ten years before Buckley’s death.

Buckley himself had selected Tanenhaus specifically for the task, granting him extensive interviews, as well as access to his private papers. A monumental work, more than a quarter century in the making, Buckley: The Life and the Revolution That Changed America, is now available to readers. More than a biography, the books helps explain the origins of latter-day Conservative politics. Max Boot called it, “A magnificent achievement—a long, gripping, and enthralling account of the life of America’s premier conservative polemicist of the twentieth century.”

Reviews

“Painstakingly researched and beautifully crafted, Buckley is a capacious and incisive history of the modern conservative movement’s formative years, seen through the eyes of its intellectual leader — a man who, in Tanenhaus’s hands, is enthralling and infuriating by turns, but never boring.” — The Washington Post

“[A] well-written, and intelligent take, both critical and admiring, on a complicated man.” — The New Yorker

“A biography not just of a prominent influencer but also of a potent movement... a milestone contribution to our understanding of the American Century.” — The Boston Globe

“[Tanenhaus] is a gifted writer and a diligent scholar.” — The Wall Street Journal

“Not so much a stranger to our times as a precursor to them... a rich chronicle.” — New York Times Book Review

“Marvelous, decades-in-the-making... offers a deeply affectionate portrait of Buckley’s personal life... [and] also methodically surfaces the darker strains of the movement.” — The New Republic

(Photo credit: Michael N. Pressman)