Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea

This hefty collection of some 40 articles and essays written since the 1950s represents a kind of summation for neocon doyen Kristol, editor of the Public Interest. Particularly interesting is his previously unpublished opening memoir concerning influences such as Lionel Trilling, Leo Strauss and army life as well as the founding of his magazine and his work with the American Enterprise Institute to extend conservatism beyond free enterprise to reflect ``on the roots of social and cultural stability.'' The articles are a varied lot. Some denigrate such topics as multiculturalism and the ``consumers' protection movement'' or declare that the 1960s counterculture was essentially unprovoked. More compelling essays reflect on the ``true purposes'' of the American Revolution, the 1960s growth of the ``new class'' and the ``perverse consequences'' of Great Society programs that ignored universal applicability. Kristol also includes several essays on Jews in America and on the country's latter-day shift to conservatism. (Sept.)